By Kyle Roberts

An interception by junior cornerback Aidan Anding set up the winning touchdown drive for the Ruston High (6-0, 1-0 District 2-5A) Friday night to end Alexandria Senior High’s plans to play spoiler for the 2023 homecoming game as the Bearcats took an instant-classic 35-28 victory after leading the Trojans by three scores at the half.

“We knew it was going to be a tough ballgame,” Ruston High head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “They’re a very good football team. They were 3-2 coming in, but they lost to two really good football teams in Carencro and St. Thomas More; neither one of those teams have lost a ballgame yet coming into tonight. We knew they were going to make some plays, but at the end of the day, our guys did enough to win the ballgame.”

After trailing 21-0 at halftime, the Trojans scored on a 68-yard reception by wide receiver Jaylin Johnson on a tipped pass that was somehow brought in for a catch with 8:40 to go in the third quarter to cut the score to 21-7.

From there, the Trojans converted their first of two consecutive onside kicks.

“They got a couple of onside kicks, which gave them a shot in the arm,” Baugh said. “Our defense had to stay our there, and a bunch of them got gassed. And that was the point– they knew they needed to get some momentum, and they got it and made some plays.”

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Following the first onside, marched down the field 52 yards touchdown drive capped off by a pass from senior quarterback Ty Feaster from 10 yards out to his tight end Tanner Townsend with 5:36 to go in the third quarter and to make it a one-score game at 21-14.

Feeling emboldened, ASH took a chance with another onside kick and recovered, as well, keeping Ruston’s defense on the field. The Trojans would again march down the field and tie the game 21-21 on a 12-yard touchdown pass on third down from Feaster to senior receiver EJ Scott at the 2:46 mark in the quarter.

It took six minutes of game time for ASH to erase a 21-0 deficit after looking anemic on offense in the first half.

“We’ve stressed starting fast, and I think we caught them off-balance in the first half with some things offensively and made some plays,” Baugh said. “The defense was on schedule in the first half and out offense was making drives to keep our defense off the field.

“But then we went three-and-out to start the second half, they go down and score and got the onsides, and then there we were. So our guys just continued to battle and again found a way to win.”

Finally gaining some of the momentum back, Ruston put together its own drive early in the fourth quarter to score with junior tailback Jordan Hayes getting into the endzone on a pitch from junior quarterback Josh Brantley with 10:02 left to go in the ballgame giving Ruston a 28-21 lead.

ASH again answered when Feaster connected with Townsend for his second touchdown reception of the night with 5:55 left to go to tie the game 28-28.

Junior running back Dylone Brooks would hit pay dirt with 1:16 left to go in the ballgame following Anding’s interception.

Despite the second half struggles, Ruston’s defense truly held to form as the duo of seniors Jaden Mayfield and Geordan Guidry dragged Feaster down on 4th and 15 to effectively end the ballgame and keep Ruston’s unbeaten hopes alive.

For the second week in a row, Brantley led the way rushing for the Bearcats; this time with 149 yards and two touchdowns– both in the first half. Brantley’s confident running last week helped propel the Bearcats over the Neville Tigers 14-10 in an exciting fourth-quarter comeback.

Tonight, Brantley was able to get the job done through the air, as well, making some critical throws to both sophomore Lander Smith and senior Zhy Scott to extend two separate drives.

“I thought he threw the ball really well,” Baugh said about his quarterback. “His play action and passing in the first half was really good. His confidence is just going to get better and better as the season goes along. You got a bunch of inexperienced guys coming in the season on offense and trying to find the things that showcase their abilities and what they can do. Again, I think the coaches have done a really good job of finding those things, and that’s indicative of what you saw tonight.”

Brantley finished the night 7-of-17 throwing for 129 yards. Brooks finished with 69 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Anding finished the night with two picks, while senior defensive back Jacoryian Crowe grabbed an interception, as well.

The Bearcats will return to action Friday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. at home against Pineville. The game will be streamed on BearcatNationNetwork.com and can be listened to on Z107.5FM.