By T. Scott Boatright
The Ruston High School Bearcats will be looking for a first this weekend — they have the chance to win consecutive Louisiana High School Athletic Association football championships for the first time in school history.
And there’s no doubt the Bearcats’ first families of football will be cheering them on from start to finish.
L.J. “Hoss” Garrett and Jimmy “Chick” Childress are undoubtedly the two greatest football coaches in RHS history, and the families of both remain loyal Bearcat supporters to this day.
It doesn’t hurt that Garrett’s son Pat and Childress’ son Dan are both former Bearcats themselves.
Pat Garrett, who was a championship sprinter who used his speed to find success on the football field playing for his father, is thrilled to see the resurgence of Ruston football that harkens back to the 1980s, when Childress was producing perennial playoff teams on the gridiron, winning state championships in 1982, ’86, ’88 and ’90.
The younger Garrett, a 1957 RHS graduate who went on to earn his PhD and served as head of Louisiana Tech’s English Department for years, still loyally keeps up the Bearcats football team.
“A second straight championship is something we’ve never seen before and it’s just so great to see the team get a chance to make that happen,” Garrett said. “My father loved coaching and he loved Ruston High.
“This would be something very special for him to see, just as it is for me. Ruston High School will always be a big part of who I am.”
Garrett’s sister Loyce Miller was a RHS cheerleader and remains a vocal supporter of her Bearcats and is excited to see them make their third straight trip to the Superdome to battle for a state title and the way it’s pulled all of Ruston together to support the Bearcats.
“Just to see the community and the school and the fans get back into it like it was in the ’80s, that’s what I love,” Miller said. “That means more to me than anything. They’re painting the town, they’re painting cars, they’re putting stickers and license plates on, that to me is wonderful. I’m so proud.”
Miller admits she doesn’t make it to games very often anymore, but she still keeps up thanks to RHS students including her grandson.
“He works for Nick Brown and Bearcat Radio and loves it,” Miller said. “Old people like us, me and Pat, we can’t get to the stadium. But we can watch Bearcat Nation (Network) and see and hear the games.
“The whole community is so excited. I wear my Ruston shirts around and people will stop me and say, ‘How about those Bearcats!’ And I hadn’t heard that in years and it’s exciting to hear it and see people acting the way they are.”
Dan Childress, who quarterbacked his father’s 1982 Bearcats squad to a state championship, is another loyal supporter who has kept up with RHS football thanks to the Bearcat Nation Network.
Childress has battled long COVID and its aftereffects for years, but that hasn’t stopped him from keeping up with his beloved Bearcats.
“I retired from coaching football two years ago after long COVID set in,” Childress said. “I came back and taught part-time, but six weeks into this school year I had what the doctors called COVID reactivation, and this time it’s given me vertigo, which is a symptom of many COVID victims but hadn’t been for me until this fall.
“So I’ve been back on medical leave since then. It’s gotten better the last two or three weeks, but I’m still just kind of homebound following the Bearcats. And it’s been very special this year.”
He also stays in touch with current Bearcats coach Jerrod Baugh.
“I usually text Coach Baugh every Friday morning just to wish them luck,” Childress
Childress said that he’s come to the realization that it’s time for him to retire and devote his energy to following the Bearcats.
“Maribel (Tuten Childress, his wife) still plans on working two or three more years, but we’re already looking forward to moving back home to Ruston in upcoming years,” Childress said.
“Chick would tell them just to go out and take care of business,” Childress said. “I think about Dad all the time and how excited he would be about the past few years and getting back to the Dome.
“He was always proud of the Bearcats like we all are regardless, but I can hear him saying that the Bearcats are back to where they belong, back in the Superdome fighting for a state championship.”
Despite being away from town, Childress, like Miller, loves hearing what Ruston’s recent success has done for the community.
“Just hearing about the excitement involving Ruston High School and all of the positivity surrounding the school and team, that means so much to me,” Childress said. “I consider myself just a big Bearcat fan, but the thing about Dad, he was Bearcat Fan No. 1.
“I can hear right now Dad saying, after the end of the season and struggling against Ouachita and the losses to Neville and Alexandria, I know exactly what Dad would be saying — ‘Do not count the Bearcats out. Never count the Bearcats out.’ If Dad could be there he’d be right there. Mom watches every game and I watch every game and we talk about it every Saturday morning. Bearcat Nation Network is fantastic. The quality is as good as any game I watch online.”
And should the Bearcats win Saturday, Children said he knows how Coach Chick would handle it.
“Dad would enjoy the moment and then just say, let’s get back to business, reload and do it again,” Childress said. “The new group of seniors that will come in and the community deserve for it to happen again. Hopefully we’ll get to celebrate for a little bit and then start getting ready for next season and making it happen again.”
