by Malcolm Butler
Getting to the top of the mountain is tough.
Staying there is tougher.
That’s what Ruston coach Jerrod Baugh has been preaching to his team since summer workouts.
After the Bearcats started the season 5-0 during their non-district slate, it appeared as if they were poised to make a third straight trip to the Caesar’s Superdome come December.
However, the past month has seen Ruston narrowly defeat a pretty descent Ouachita team before falling in a pair of one score games to both undefeated Neville and undefeated ASH.
Although those losses are nothing to sneeze at … they did spotlight that the Bearcats aren’t at the level where they can just walk out on the field on any given Friday night and win.
“I’ve had that feeling,” said Baugh when asked about complacency being the Bearcats biggest foe. “It’s not something that started recently for me. I saw glimpses of it during the off-season and during the summer. It’s something we have fought.
“I’ve talked about it but I’ve said it as inconsistency, but to me that is what it is. It’s like, ‘Okay, we are going to hit the gas now. Yeah, we can do that and just hit cruise control.’ The people that we play particularly when we hit this district road, you can’t do that. I think we got the feeling our non-district schedule was going to be the toughest part of it and then we were going to hit district and cruise and ride on through it. That’s not how it’s been.
“These teams (in district) are too good to mentally feel that way, and then all of a sudden think you are going to hit the gas in the middle of the game and win. It just doesn’t work that way. Hopefully, we have learned our lesson.”
After winning 20 straight ball games, including its first state title since 1990, the Bearcats had a bullseye on the back of the red jerseys. They were the team to beat on the Class 5A level in the state.
And yet, for a three-week stretch, they didn’t play with the urgency needed to be able to beat the likes of Neville and ASH.
“I’ve talked about it a bunch,” said Baugh. “I’ve raised hell about it a bunch. Sometimes it goes back to that old saying that I can show you better than I can tell you. Sometimes you have to learn the lesson just by going through it. Hopefully our guys have learned that lesson.”
Baugh pulled back on practice this week, leading up to the Homecoming game against Pineville. It came at a good time with the Rebels the one District 2-5A foe that just doesn’t match up with the rest of the league. He had his reasons.
“This senior group has played 20 weeks of football for two years in a row,” said Baugh, referring to the 2022 and 2023 Bearcats run to the Dome. “We do a lot of football stuff during the spring. A lot during the summer. Maybe I have shoved too much football at them. I will take responsibility for some of that.
“I constantly try to evaluate what our football team needs. I think that is always really important for a head coach and the assistant coaches. We need to constantly re-evaluate those things. Is there something we need to change as coaches?
“It’s tough on me to pull back and not put pads on for an entire week because I feel like that is one of the things we are and that’s a really physical football team. You don’t want to lose that aspect, but you do need the kids fresh. And they do need to get out and play football.”
While Baugh and his assistant coaches can make tweaks to practice schedules and other internal aspects of the day-to-day grind, the best teams are most times player led. So the question is will this 2024 senior class do what it needs to do in the lockerroom and on the field to give it the best chance to go out on top.
“A bunch of those guys have been a part of the past two state title teams,” said Baugh. “A major part. We need to be able to lean on those guys. Our inexperienced guys need that are in their first year starting need to be able to lean on those guys.
“We need to depend on them to do the right things, to know how to practice. To know how to take care of all the little things. That’s a big weight on their shoulders, but that’s what their job is.”
Ruston took care of business in Friday night’s win. It dominated from start to finish against an inferior opponent in Pineville. It’s a start.
However, with next week’s regular season finale against West Monroe on the horizon, the Bearcats need to find a way to travel to Don Shows Stadium and get a victory. It’s important for a number of reasons.
“You know West Monroe will be ready to play,” said Baugh. “Whatever that ballgame turns into, we need to find a way to win. You want to win ballgames going into the playoffs. You want to have some confidence and some momentum. It’s really big for a lot of different reasons.”
Ruston entered Friday night’s game in second place in the Non-Select Division I power rankings, just percentage points ahead of Airline. The top two teams are assured of home field advantage throughout the playoffs and the top four teams are assured of a first round bye.
“I feel like power points will come into play,” said Baugh. “I told the seniors, ‘This could possibly be your last home game if we don’t go out and win. You want go guarantee that you will get some more home games? Well go out and win next week and you will get that guarantee.'”
Ruston is still one of the most talented teams in the state. The Bearcats have all the ingredients to make a third straight trip to the Superdome in early December. However, Baugh’s Boys will need to step on the gas from start to finish the rest of the season in order to make that happen.
Can the Bearcats stay on top of the mountain?
Only time will tell.
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:55 right to your inbox. Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
