By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — From the “Firmly Founded” to the “Ever Loyal Be.”
That’s the case for seven underclassmen Bulldog football players on Louisiana Tech’s roster this year on all three sides of the ball as these grid iron warriors have found themselves across the street after graduating from Ruston High over the past few years.
The ‘Dogs will feature sophomore defensive tackle Christian Davis, sophomores Jadon Mayfield at linebacker and Jacoryian Crowe at defensive back, and freshmen Will Fendley at punter, Zheric Hill and Zander Hayes at linebacker, and Dylone Brooks at running back — and all of whom saw meaningful playing time in at least one state championship game for the Bearcats.
According to Louisiana Tech’s department of strategic communications, it’s the second most players on an NCAA roster by a single school, only behind Fresno State with eight players from Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif.
For Davis, it’s an exciting reunion with key players he served alongside before graduating Ruston High in 2023 — after signing with Northwestern State originally out of high school, Davis found his way back to Lincoln Parish last year.
“I was like ‘let’s bring them all here,'” Davis said of Tech signing Ruston High players. “I think we got a good thing going here; we got guys that can put on a good defense.”
Louisiana Tech Head Coach Sonny Cumbie was more familiar with Bearcat Head Coach Jerrod Baugh than Ruston when he first took over the Bulldog football program. The two had found themselves in similar circles when Baugh was at Longview and Gladewater as a coach, while Cumbie spent a lot of his formative years playing and coaching in west Texas.
“When I took this job and realized he was the head football coach at Ruston High, I knew right then that Ruston had a great football program,” Cumbie said. “I was unfamiliar with the rich history Ruston High had for football at the time and the tremendous players that have come out of that school. With the way Coach Baugh structures the program from the middle schools on up through the high school — I mean, there’s a reason they’re really good.”
And only being separated by a couple of blocks has helped both Cumbie and Baugh stay connected in person as both make visits to each other’s campus and facilities.
One of the common characteristics that former Bearcats share that Cumbie noticed immediately was the instilled work ethic and drive. Said Cumbie, “They don’t flinch at hard work.”
That’s something that makes Baugh proud, though he refuses to take all the credit.
“Personally, it means a lot to have somebody look at these kids that you’ve had a part of and see that,” Baugh said. “But I’m not going to take the credit for that — it’s a family, community and school deal. And you hope that’s what we’re doing as a football program. Coach Cumbie has seen these things when he’s been on campus; I think it should give people an indication of as far as the kind of people we’re putting out here at Ruston High — not just the football program.”
The hard work has left a lasting impact on Davis.
“Sometimes we’d kill practice if it wasn’t good enough,” Davis said. “And we’d do sprints and stadiums, but that forced you to dig deeper and work harder.”
And for Mayfield, those hard days running stadiums or sprints after a less-than-stellar practice havee prepared him for this new moment on Tech’s roster. He sees how Baugh was able to get the best out of his players while they were Bearcats.
“You go back and look and see how all of that work shaped you,” Mayfield said. “It’s helped me with responsibility and accountability. We don’t let the highs get us too high or the lows get us low. Those are things we learned at Ruston.”
The Bulldogs will kick off the 2025 season at home Saturday, Aug. 30, against Southeastern at Joe Aillet Stadium at 6:30 p.m.
