Photo by Reggie McLeroy)
By Kyle Roberts
WEST MONROE, La. — Clear skies made way for two hours of solid rain at Rebel Stadium Friday night for West Monroe’s Senior Night.
It had no effect whatsoever on the Ruston Bearcats, who would go on to shut the Rebels out 36-0 with a dominating performance on all sides of the ball. And Ruston’s domination was easily seen on the stat sheet, amassing 424 yards of total offense compared to just 109 yards for West Monroe.
“That was a really good football team,” Ruston High head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “And you know, I think that’s an indication of how tough our district is, and I think all our teams will end up making a run in the playoffs. Our defensive coaches put a good plan together and the kids went out and executed. I was really afraid of those big offensive linemen and running backs — they concerned me with the weather. I thought they were fixing to line up and try to run the ball at us. And they just could never get anything going. I thought our guys held up in there against those linemen and that’s really good for us to see going into the playoffs.
“Our guys ran the ball hard. I think we got a little more out of our offensive line. And the thing is, the consistency part of it that I’ve been talking about all year. We had some consistent practices this week, and I think you line up out here and look a little more consistent in the ball game — hopefully we’ll carry that over.”
After electing to kickoff in the first half, Ruston would stop West Monroe on fourth down with 9:38 to go in the first quarter on the Bearcat 35-yard line. The Rebels picked up one of their two first downs in the first half on the first play of their opening drive.
On the following drive, Bearcat senior running back Dylone Brooks scored from 36 yards out with 8:00 to play in the first quarter, capping a 4-play, 65 yard drive. Ruston attempted a two-point conversion with a jet sweep to senior running back Jordan Hayes after an offside penalty by the Rebels but were tackled short. Ruston would have a 6-0 lead after one quarter.
The Rebels and the Bearcats traded punts over the next seven possessions before the Bearcats finally scored again on a 65-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Josh Brantley to senior wide receiver Joran Parker with 2:10 left to play in the first half. Senior kicker Jack Elliott tacked on another extra point to give Ruston the 13-0 lead.
Ruston High sophomore Jayden Anding would then intercept Rebel quarterback Ryder DeJean with 1:13 to go in the first half at the Bearcat 34-yard line. Ruston would then drive back down the field to set Elliott up for a 27-yard field goal try with :01 to play in the half. Elliott connected to give Ruston a 16-0 lead going into the halftime locker room.
Ruston would put up two more touchdowns in the third quarter with Brantley scampering in from the six yard line with 5:34 to go in the third, which followed a 64-yard gain by Brooks for his longest run of the night to extend the drive.
Hayes would get his first touchdown of the night with :36 to go in the third quarter on a 4-yard touchdown run that capped off a 35-yard drive. Hayes got his second and final touchdown of the night with 7:02 left to play from 16-yards out to give Ruston the final 36-0 lead.
The Rebels were also penalized eight times for 67 yards, while Ruston was only penalized twice for 10 yards.
“That’s a big deal to me,” Baugh said. “West Monroe is a hard place to come win a football game, particularly down on their end with their student section. There’s been years in the past where we have the ball on the 15-yard line on that end and get multiple false starts in a row. Last year, the penalties were an issue at the time. To me, it ends up being strictly a focus thing. I think our kids did a good job because their kids got frustrated and had some penalties after that. We could have played into that, but we didn’t. Our kids did a good job.”
The Bearcats have now bested the Rebels in three straight seasons following a three-decades long streak that favored West Monroe.
“We needed to win this ball game for a lot of different reasons. I felt like if we won, we’d get a bye in the first round, which we desperately need to get some kids healed up,” Baugh said. “It also gives us an opportunity to do like we did last year: work a lot of different situational things going into the playoff run. And to me, that’s the biggest thing. But I don’t want to act like this isn’t a big deal for our football program and the community. It’s an indication of where we are as a football program. Anytime you can shut a football team out, and it doesn’t make a difference to me who they are if we can keep them out of the end zone. It’s a big deal.”
Brooks led all rushers with his 143 yards, but Hayes wasn’t far behind with 132 yards on 20 attempts. Parker had 76 yards receiving on two receptions, while sophomore Ahmad Hudson made a few drive-sustaining catching for 23 yards total.
The shut out marks the first time the Bearcats have held the Rebels scoreless since 1989.
Ruston (and over 300 other schools in Louisiana) will now await the results of a hearing between the LHSAA and University High in Baton Rouge regarding an ineligible player. The postseason brackets would have been released this Sunday, but as of right now, they are postponed indefinitely.
“We just don’t know what’s going to happen,” Baugh said in conclusion. “I’m not totally familiar with the situation, so we’ll just deal with it. But the main thing that’s fair about it is all of us have to deal with it. Once they set the date of what it looks like, then we’ll get a plan together and deal with it as best we can. It’s a great opportunity to regroup and work on a lot of situational things. Hopefully, (the LHSAA) will come up with what’s right and do the right thing with it. We’ll see.”
Ruston will await from here to see who and when they’ll play once the brackets are officially released.
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.
