By Kyle Roberts
Philippians 2: 3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
The Apostle Paul may not have known it 2,000 years ago, but he wrote the perfect scripture for offensive linemen to the ancient church of Philippi. And when Bearcat Co-Offensive Line Coach Bryan Beck put together the game plan for what would be Ruston’s 36-0 victory over West Monroe, he attached that verse for his offensive linemen to remind them of why they do what they do.
“Coach Baugh comes up with a theme each year, and this year is ‘We Over Me,'” Beck said. “It’s important for us as a staff to implement what his plan for the year is (to our group). Obviously, there’s the standard of trying to get to the Dome. But it’s been a grind for three years, and most of these guys have been here the whole time.
“And in the three years we have gone to a state championships game, this has been the toughest.”
A grind, it certainly has been. And from what started as an uncertain summer followed by bouts of injury and illness has birthed a dominating offensive attack for the Bearcats — thanks to not just five, but seven guys that have made meaning contributions to the offensive line all season long in seniors Sam Nations, Ced Rhone, Jake Tyler, Cam Venzant, juniors Brooks Brown and Brock Singley, and sophomore Jakaylen Blackmon.
For Nations, who just signed to play college football at Northwestern State, nothing has been easy in 2024 for this group.
“This has definitely been a learning year,” Nations said. “We had to learn how to play with adversity. We had so many guys fill in each others’ spots. It was kind of like Lego pieces: we learned how to play with whoever’s beside us playing football.”
Venzant spoke after in agreement.
“This was year tough,” Venzant said. “We had to quickly learn how to play for each other.”
Going into a season, an offensive-line position coach ideally will have his front-five circled and will trot those guys out with the “ones” full-time from camp all the way through the postseason. For the 2024 Bearcat season, it was a bit of “musical chairs” as Beck put it, all the way back to the summer.
“Typically, the five we’ll have is the five we’re going with,” Beck said. “We’re not trying to rotate guys in like wide receivers. We have tried to develop and coach these kids, wherever you are on the depth chart, that you’re one play away from being in the ball game. If you’re a back-up, you have to practice like that and play like that.”
The summer held key questions for this offensive line: who would replace the seniors from last year’s squad? What would become of Brown, who was exceeding expectations over the summer? And would Nations be better as a guard (as he was in 2022) or a center (as he was in 2023)?
The coaches worked with the unit all summer trying to answer the questions before opening week. Thus, the proverbial clarion call for Week 1 against Acadiana went to Blackmon, Venzant, Tyler, Nations and Brown, from left tackle to right tackle, respectively (See chart below for full list of Offensive Line starting line-up combinations). The Bearcats then made a slight shift in Week 2 put Nations back at center and Rhone as the starter at right guard for the Cabot game.
Running back the same starters as the previous week, things unfortunately took a turn when Blackmon went down with a knee injury in the second half of a tight game against Longview. Rhone was moved to left tackle, Tyler back to center and Nations to right guard again, who had the stomach flu that week. Thankfully, Ruston was still able to beat the Lobos 21-10 after scoring two unanswered touchdowns in the second half.
Blackmon spoke about this disappointment in going down to injury.
“It was tough,” Blackmon said. “It was hard for me. This was my first year starting — man, it was tough. I had to learn a lot of stuff.”
The following week, it would be Tyler that would come down with an illness, so Beck and Co-Offensive Lineman Coach Josh Mote then went to the drawing board for a nearly complete reshuffle for the following two Texas games against Midland and Stephenville: Venzant (Left Tackle), Singley (Left Guard), Nations (Center), Rhone (Right Guard) and Brown (Right Tackle).
Ruston won those handily, blowing out Midland and Stephenville in two neutral site games by scores of 38-6 and 63-17, respectively. The Bearcats looked unstoppable heading into district and fans started booking rooms on Poydras Street in New Orleans.
But something happened to Ruston High weeks six through eight. The Bearcats went from 63 points against one of the top teams in the Texas the week before to squeaking by Ouachita after only scoring 22. The week after, the Bearcats lost their first game in two years to rival Neville 26-21 at home and then again the following week at Alexandria Senior High 40-36.
While nobody can really point fingers at one specific reason for the back-to-back losses, the entire team was searching for answers, regardless of positions. And in the second half of the ASH game, Beck saw a way for his troops to make a change.
“We were sitting under the tent, and it was tied 14-14 at half time,” Beck said. “We came out of the half, and we didn’t play well on a couple of drives — then we’re down two scores. We were coming off bad performances against Ouachita and Neville. I said, ‘Guys, look. I don’t care what the score is. We are not going to quit. We are going lock arms and bow up together. You have a responsibility to your teammates, this program and the letters across your chest to not quit.
“I’m telling you: from that moment forward, they went out there and we got the lead back. And while we may not have won, we went on a 15-play drive that I don’t think people remember to have a chance to win that ballgame. That stood out to me.”
From there, the line began to solidify into what it is today: Blackmon (LT), Rhone (LG), Nations (C), Venzant (RG) and Brown (RT) — the starting five Ruston is slated to start Saturday in the Super Dome.
The stars of the Ruston backfield have plenty of yards and touchdowns that illuminate just how solid this quarterback and tailbacks have been — certainly since Week 10 at West Monroe in the shutout win on the Rebels’ senior night.
Between seniors Josh Brantley (quarterback), Jordan Hayes (running back), Dylone Brooks (running back) and junior fullback Lander Smith, Ruston has amassed an incredible 2,883 yards rushing and 34 touchdowns on ground (Brantley has added 17 more touchdowns through the air). The average running play for the Bearcats this year has gone for 7.1 yards per carry through 13 games played.
Let that sink in: Seven-point-one yards per carry.
Brantley, the 2023 MVP from the state championship game, gives props to the major reason for the offense’s success.
“I love my O-line,” Brantley said. “They do the most work and get the least recognition. They never complain about it. They come to work every day, making sure to keep us protected so we can make those big plays. They’re not selfish whatsoever.”
Brooks, too, gets why he’s rushing for nearly 10-yards per carry heading into the championship game and has watched this line gel into what it is today.
“Without this line, it wouldn’t be possible for the offense to work,” Brooks said. “They’re very key — without them playing well, it all falls apart. At the beginning of the season, it was a little shaky in summer workouts no knowing who was going to start at which position. And it all has fallen into place.”
Factor in, too, that Brantley and Nations go way back — years of chemistry built for the foundation of trust the two share, wherever Nations has been on the line.
“Sam and I are close friends,” Brantley said. “We just never get tired of each other. That connection really shows on the field.”
And Brooks and Brantley could not pass up the opportunity to thank their offensive line directly.
“I have no success without them,” Brooks said. “So I just appreciate them working with me. Last season, I was struggling with fumbling the ball, but they kept working to create gaps for me. Now, they trust me and know I can get through those gaps. I’m very thankful for them.”
Brantley followed: “Pretty much what (Dylone) said. I’m really thankful for them to come out everyday and work. Practice isn’t always perfect, but they still find a way to make things happen for us. So yeah, I really appreciate them for the things they do.”
While they’ll be the first to give all the credit to the kids, it’s impossible to highlight the students’ success without seeing how Beck and Mote both handled this year, as well. Mote joined the staff this year as a Louisiana Tech graduate and originally an Oak Grove, La., native, while Beck served as the veteran presence.
It’s rare in football for a specific position to share co-coaches. But in a year of uncertainty and turmoil, the kids did not have to look far to see how cooperation and teamwork can right a ship through a storm as they saw the tight bond form between their co-coaches. And what better example than Beck and Mote have set — leaning on each other’s strengths to bring out the best in their players.
“The biggest X-Factor in this room has been Coach Mote,” Beck said, heavy with emotion and appreciation. “What he’s meant to me and this room, there’s not enough time and words to write about him. It’s beyond football. He’s forgotten more about offensive line than most of us will ever know.
“The X’s and O’s of high school football to me is not what it’s all about. I’m tough on these guys, and I demand a lot. And he has brought a presence into this room for these kids that has been needed.”
Mote echoed Beck’s sentiments about the year.
“There’s a lot of emotion in that for me,” Mote said in response. “The individual adversity that we’ve all gone through combined us as a group and made us stronger. All of these kids can tell you something about this year about how it’s grown them. That’s what makes it so special. That opening scripture (Philippians 2:3-4) — the moment we started going by that weekly and really understanding what our mission, we moved forward.
“I think I love the position of offensive line more than I love football, because no one else outside of this room understands what we go through on a daily basis, with the pressure of the program and the expectations. And I think Coach Beck has done a really good job of holding them accountable to that standard of excellence.”
Now, with one more game remaining, Ruston High seems to be firing on all-cylinders heading into its third consecutive title game with a chance to repeat as champions for the first time in the hallowed history of the Firmly Founded football program. It’s something that Nation is still trying to fully process: a high school career flooded with state championship appearances — something truly special.
“It actually hit me Saturday night,” Nations said. “I was watching old football videos with my mom and dad on Youtube. And my mom said ‘You’ve had the storybook high school career.’ It hasn’t come easily. It takes a lot to do what we’ve done. All these guys up here, we’re good in school, we’re good men. If you had told me in sixth grade that I’d be going to the state championship three times in my high school career, I wouldn’t believe you. But I think once we realized our sophomore year that it could be done and it’s not as far-fetched as it seemed. We made it a goal to go get it every year, and I think we’ve honed in on that.”
Sure, MVP honors and press conferences will undoubtedly feature skill players for the winning side. But rest assured, no man is an island. And should Ruston hoist a trophy, this squad of seven special student-athletes and their co-coaches deserve just as much praise and honor as anybody else.
“We’ve seen what we can do when we work together,” Venzant said in conclusion. “When we’re not working together and get to arguing with each other, it’s all jumbled and mess up. But once we realized ‘Hey, we’re a team — we’ve got to do this together,’ that’s when it all comes together.”
And the result is a line and staff full of the truest hard-working, blocking and breathing embodiments of “We Over Me.”
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