By Kyle Roberts
Photos by Tonya McCulloch
RUSTON, La. — Mid-October has to be bittersweet for Ruston Junior High head coach Hilton Hay after finishing almost two months of football for two grades of football players.
And after posting winning seasons for in both seventh and eighth grade, Hay has two big reasons to be excited: getting to see his 7th-graders progress into his 8th-grade team next season, and sending the 8th-graders off to Ruston High School where they will continue to grow and improve under the tutelage of Bearcat head coach Jerrod Baugh.
“I thought both teams were great this year,” Hay said, who just wrapped up his third season as the head coach for the Bearkits. “We a lot of adversity with some of the kids getting hurt when you expected them to be crucial for the team. I just felt like kids stepped up and did what they needed to do. We had a couple of disappointing games, but overall, I hope they’re all ready for the next phase.”
7th Grade
| I.A. LEWIS | W, 32-0 |
| OUACHITA | W, 22-6 |
| GOOD HOPE | W, 40-14 |
| NEVILLE | W, 26-0 |
| WEST RIDGE | L, 30-22 |
| EAST OUACHITA | L, 24-22 |
Winning the first four games of the year, the Bearkits 7th-grade squad continued to build on their fundamentals and skillset learned at I.A. Lewis from the previous season.
“Seventh grade is a little different because you really don’t know what you have, because they’ve only played one year of football in sixth grade — and there’s so much in learning just the basics of everything,” Hay said. “We do football all summer long, but without pads, you really just don’t know.
“That group I felt like exceeded what our expectations were. They picked up the offense and defense really well when we needed them to.”
Hay added that it was clear the kids had improved from grade six to seven.
“We don’t have peewee tackle football, so their sixth grade year is their first real experience in full pads,” Hay said. “Overall it was a good year for (the 7th-graders).”
8th Grade
| OUACHITA | W, 33-0 |
| GOOD HOPE | L, 46-6 |
| NEVILLE | W, 22-14 |
| EVANGEL | W, 36-22 |
| WEST RIDGE | W, 12-0 |
| EAST OUACHITA | W, 38-8 |
“Eighth-grade wise, we kind of knew what we had,” Hay said. “It’s a very good group — one of the best that’s come through here. They have a lot of potential, and I think they lived up to it, for the most part. We had one game against Good Hope where we did not play well.”
Hay praised the efforts of quarterback Austin Lee, who came in to replace Jack Smith, the starter under center at the beginning of the year after suffering a season-ending injury.
“Austin did not expect to play quarterback, and he did a very good job of stepping in and being the “next man up.” He had a good season to finish out. Jackson Beckwith did a very good job at starting tailback. And defensively, Messiah Myree, Anthonie Tobin, Rhett Patterson and Tristan Nassar all had a very good year.
“We had a couple of guys get hurt and missed the season — Jack Smith and Sammy Collins, who both got hurt before the season even started. Overall, I was pleased and the coaching staff was pleased with how the seasons went with both groups.”
Hay added that he’s confident this group of eighth graders will be ready to move into high school and contribute heavily to the future of Bearcat football, especially given the investment of the high school in the success of the junior high program.
“It’s huge for these kids to have high school coaches involved,” Hay concluded. “We played Evangel this year at Hoss Garrett Stadium. Before the game, varsity had finished practice. And we’re in stretch lines getting ready for the game to start, and almost all of the varsity players come and talk to the eighth grade players and tell them good luck. It’s a good relationship with those guys at the junior high, and I feel like it’s a huge deal from top to bottom.
“Everybody’s on the same page, and it’s paid off.”
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