by Malcolm Butler
Kudos, Josh Brantley.
You made me eat my words.
Several times this fall, I had written and said that I felt the biggest question mark for the Ruston Bearcats and their chances of winning a state title lay largely on the right arm of Brantley.
With Jordan Hayes and Dylone Brooks providing a physical, explosive one-two punch in the backfield and Brantley running over defenders like a young Earl Campbell, the Bearcats had one of the top rushing attacks in the state.
A ground game that very few, if any, opposing defenses could slow down.
But what IF a team lining up on the opposite side of the field from the Ruston offensive unit COULD find a way to slow down the Bearcats ground attack? Could Brantley and the Bearcats make them pay through the air?
There were plenty of times this year, fair or unfair, that I didn’t think the answer would be yes. At times that strong right arm would misfire too often when Brantley was asked to throw.
It never cost Ruston in the Win column, mainly because of Ruston’s ground attack and stellar defensive unit.
Even Zachary head coach David Brewerton said postgame he felt that Broncos had the Bearcats right where they wanted them as they took Hayes and Brooks out of the equation.
“You have to credit Ruston,” said Brewerton. “Nobody thought they were going to come out and sling the ball around the field like they did. If you had told me before the game, ‘Hey Ruston is going to have to try to beat you throwing the ball’ … then I would have felt pretty good.”
However, Brantley’s own head coach knew his signal caller had it in him.
Jerrod Baugh told me numerous times this calendar year he believed in Brantley’s ability to throw the football and that his first year starter was making progress. But I still had my doubts, until Saturday night.
In the biggest game of the season with a state championship title on the line, Brantley threw for a season-high 194 yards while completing 11 of 19 passes. Sure. Brantley rushed for 134 yards and three scores too, but it was his ability to make some big-time throws in some big-time moments that I thought proved to be the difference in a big-time game.
Zachary showed they could slow down Hayes and Brooks. Heck, stop them if we are being honest. Hayes carried it 12 times for three yards and Brooks added five carries for 14 yards. That’s 17 totes for a total of 17 yards for what has proven to be the Bearcats bread and butter this year.
No need to worry Bearcat fans, Josh Brantley was out to prove his critics wrong. Brewerton. Me. Everybody who doubted him.
He made Zachary believers.
“He’s pretty talented,” said Brewerton. “He’s a pretty talented guy.”
Yes, coach Brewerton. Yes he is.
Brantley’s favorite target on the night was senior wide receiver Logan Malone, who hauled in 5 passes for 112 yards. However, the first big play through the air came in the first quarter on a slant to Jamar Woods who carried the ball 33 yards down to the Zachary 5-yard line, setting up a 27-yard field goal by Jack Elliott and an early 3-0 lead.
It wouldn’t be Brantley’s last explosive play through the air.
With the two teams tied at 10-10 coming out of the locker room for the third quarter, Brantley and the Bearcats began to throw on early downs. It paid dividends.
Brantley and Malone hooked up on four pass plays on the opening drive of the third quarter, covering 9, 27, 5 and 20 yards to drive the football down to the Broncos 5-yard line. And on fourth down and goal from the 3-yard line, Brantley ran a power counter off the left side of the Bearcat offensive line, and broke the goal line for a TD and a 17-10 Ruston lead.
It was a man’s run that culminated a mostly aerial drive.
“I think that is something that has been a progressive growth process for us through the year,” said Baugh. “It’s something we knew Josh was capable of doing. When we put gameplans together … we want it all to work together to win ball games.
“A lot of time through the year it’s not necessarily the fanciest of game plans … everybody wants to see you throw it all around and score a bunch of points. We just want to win. And so we do whatever is necessary. Josh absolutely made the plays tonight that we absolutely needed to have in the second half.”
Another one of those plays was a 51-yard strike to Malone late in the third quarter that set up the Bearcats’ next touchdown — a Brantley 9-yard run giving Ruston a 24-17 lead.
Brewerton admitted that Ruston’s ability to consistently hit big plays through the air was a surprise and one of the differences in the ball game.
“You start getting eyes looking in the backfield,” said Brewerton. “And next thing you know you are getting hit over the top. It’s one of those things where you pick your poison with a group like that from Ruston.”
As I watched Brantley on the field and even on the sideline, he never looked anything but confident and determined. The moment never looked to big for him.
At one point late in the third quarter, I walked up to Josh’s dad, Jonathan, and told him, “Josh is sure answering my question tonight.”
Josh gave his dad credit in the postgame press conference.
“There were a lot of people going into this season that doubted me,” said Brantley. “(My dad) was the one that said, ‘You got it, Josh. You got it, Josh.'”
Josh definitely got it.
The final nail in the Zachary coffin came with under two minutes to play and the Bearcats facing a fourth-down-and-8 from the Broncos 24-yard line. Ruston led 24-17 and didn’t want to give the football back to a dangerous Zachary team.
Following a timeout, the Bearcats faked the toss to Hayes and Brantley kept it on a naked bootleg, racing 24-yards untouched to the end zone to seal Ruston’s first state title since 1990.
In the postgame press conference Brantley said he pleaded with the Bearcats coaching staff during the timeout to let him keep it on the fourth down play.
Baugh laughed when he was asked about it.
“I don’t think Josh really has to say anything,” said Baugh. “I think we know with him. Your best playmakers want to be there to make plays. And Josh has been that for us.”
And he was on Saturday night.
Kudos, young man.
