By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — New quarterback. New running backs. New defensive coordinator.
New — almost everything.
It’s probably a word Ruston High head coach Jerrod Baugh will get tired of hearing pretty quickly.
And yet, the irony is that the one thing that isn’t new after the first spring practice is, well — the newness of a turned-over roster ready to kick off its own season and identity.
“There’s a lot of new faces out there today,” Baugh said. “I told them after practice that it wasn’t bad for a first day. We had a lot of different guys get reps with different groups. So there were a lot of running backs and different linebackers. That’s what I told our coaches at staff meeting — that it should be a really good opportunity over these nine or ten practices before the spring game for us to evaluate going into the summer who is going to start for us in the fall.”
Bearcat football fans are fully aware of the graduating attrition from the 2024 roster — a team of senior players that saw the Superdome for three consecutive seasons — meaning 2025 will see fresh faces across the board for the most part.
Of course, there are some key veterans that will be returning to the roster, including upcoming seniors Lander Smith at fullback and Ra’Keem Potts at defensive line and junior Ahmad Hudson at wide receiver. These returners are critical for Baugh as a lot of the younger guys will need some time to get acclimated to the speed and expectations of the Bearcat football program.
Noticeable at practice Monday is upcoming junior Sam Hartwell, who will likely be the top quarterback heading into camp. Multiple times throughout the night, Hartwell broke long runs past scrimmage and looked comfortable in the role. During the 2024 season, Hartwell was stellar in a start to lead Ruston over Cabot High School out of Arkansas in a 49-10 Bearcat victory.
And as Aidan Anding did following his sophomore year of basketball, upcoming junior Keshun Malcolm has now put the football pads on and will play wide receiver. Malcolm made a couple of great catches in the opening practice before taking a huge hit toward the end of the day in a “Welcome to Bearcat Football” moment for the star basketball player.
At tailback, upcoming sophomore Dalen Powell just wrapped up a baseball season for the Bearcats and is the returning leader in rushing yards for a running back unit that includes soon-to-be upperclassmen Jeremiah Freeman and Davis Demoss.
Superstar Hudson and a few other returners were absent from Spring Practice, as they are competing with the Bearcat Track and Field squad during the postseason.
For Baugh, it’s a positive for the returners to miss parts of the spring as it will allow more players to get reps and be evaluated heading into the summer.
“We do have a nucleus of guys that are going to be really good,” Baugh said. “Just like every other year, we need our veterans to play really well early on while these other guys gain experience and get the game reps they need. But I think we have a good selection of guys — we just have to put the puzzle pieces together.”
Ruston will continue to practice three times per week until Friday, May 15, when the Bearcats will head to Captain Shreve for a spring game with the Gators.
