by Malcolm Butler
No Josh Brantley? No worries.
With its all-state caliber quarterback sidelined as a precaution with a nagging injury from last week’s win over Acadiana, No. 1 ranked Ruston High didn’t flinch.
The Bearcats used a strong run game, a solid performance by sophomore backup QB Sam Hartwell, and a stingy defense to dismantle No. 11 ranked Cabot (Ark.) High School 49-10 at Hoss Garrett Stadium at James Field.
“We evaluated Josh all week and felt it was in his best interest especially early in the year to get him healthy,” said head coach Jerrod Baugh on the decision not to play his senior signal caller.
The win by Ruston was its 16th straight, now the longest active streak in the state following Catholic’s 18-14 win over St. Thomas More and Neville’s 42-38 win over Calvary Baptist both on Friday night. St. Thomas More saw its win streak snapped at 25 straight and Calvary Baptist saw its streak ended at 16 in a row.
But back to the Bearcats and their dominating performance. It was simply a game that showed glimpses of the future, but even more so, it showed the depth of the 2024 Bearcats squad.
And it was a game where Ruston (2-0) had to play from behind early. But once the Bearcats got things rolling, the Panthers (1-2) had no answers in any of the three phases of the game.
Following an interception of a deflected Hartwell pass early in the first quarter, Cabot took the early 7-0 lead on an 8-yard scoring toss to tight end Kaden Harmon.
However, it would be the last time the Panthers found the endzone.
And Ruston responded … quickly and in a state championship caliber way.
The Bearcats drove the length of the field on its ensuing possession as Hartwell found Ahmad Hudson for a long gain that took the ball into Cabot territory, Jordan Hayes scored the first TD of the night for Ruston on a 10-yard scamper with 6:29 to play in the opening quarter, tying the game at 7-7.
“I think we struggled emotionally at the beginning with it being senior night,” said Baugh. “Senior night is always tough. You do like to see how the guys respond. Being able to answer scores is always big.”
It was just a microcosm of the night as Ruston used a balanced offensive attack to move the ball up and down the field, almost at will.
The second quarter saw Ruston tally three touchdowns, including a 26-yard run by Dylone Brooks, a 19-yard scamper by Hartwell and a 7-yard hookup from Hartwell and Lander Smith as the Bearcats took a 28-7 lead into the halftime locker room.
Hayes and Brooks were once again a potent one-two punch on the ground. Hayes rushed 15 times for 124 yards and one score while Brooks added 13 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
“We needed to do some things better than last week particularly along the offensive line,” said Baugh. “(Cabot) moves around a lot defensively, and I thought for the most part we handled that okay. We will have to watch video to make sure.”
Any chance of Cabot believing it could get back into the game was quickly erased in the third quarter as Ruston took the third quarter kickoff and marched down the field with Brooks capping the drive with a 21-yard TD run, his second score of the night.
“Talking to Coach (Kyle) Williams at halftime, he thought we were going through the motions in the first half,” said Baugh. “I told them at halftime to throw the score out and go out and play with emotion and fire. I thought we saw that (in the second half).”
The Bearcats defense impressed all night. After surrendering the early TD in the opening quarter on the short field, Ruston allowed just a 37-yard field goal late in the third quarter.
Aidan Anding, who had a punt return for a score negated by a penalty early in the ball game, recorded an interception with just under four minutes to play in the third quarter … one play after Hartwell saw a deflected pass picked off by the Panthers.
On the very next play from scrimmage following Anding’s interception, Hartwell found Joren Parker for a 56-yard touchdown, upping the Bearcats lead to 42-7 with 3:40 to play in the stanza.
Hartwell threw for 141 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, both on deflected passes. He also rushed for 50 yards and one score.
“Sam knows our offense,” said Baugh. “Nothing really changed as far as the game plan. It’s always great to get the backup QB in. Sam did a great job running the offense tonight.
“He always does a good job making sure he is prepared each week on the game plan. Our coaches do a great job getting those guys prepared. It’s always good to see your backups get in and execute the offense like they did.”
Baugh emptied his bench at the start of the fourth quarter, and the Bearcats didn’t miss a beat. With Peyton Nations taking over at quarterback, Ruston marched down the field behind some strong runs from Nations and Nolan Parnell.
The drive was capped with a Sven Outley 5-yard touchdown run with 4:34 to play in the game, giving Ruston a 49-10 lead.
Ruston will travel to face Longview in Texas next Friday.
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