By Kyle Roberts
SCOTT, La. — Dalen Powell, have yourself a night.
The sophomore running back for Ruston High had some big shoes to fill with the graduation of both Jordan Hayes and Dylone Brooks to take over as the tailback for the Bearcats.
Mission: Accomplished.
Four first-half touchdowns for Powell propelled the Bearcats (1-0) to an ultimate 49-7 win over Acadiana (0-1) to start the 2025 campaign with a statement win over an historic program.
Adding a trio of receiving touchdowns between junior Ahmad Hudson and senior Cullen Clark — that was icing on the cake.
“I thought our kids were ready to play,” Ruston High Head Coach Jerrod Baugh said. “And you know, I think things snowballed on Acadiana. We had some big plays early on, and it’s hard to recover from that. I’ve been on the other side of it, and I know how that feels. I thought out guys continued to play hard and never got comfortable. I was afraid at halftime that we were going to get comfortable. We came back out and hit the gas like we were supposed to and did exactly what we needed to do.”
Ruston was forced to punt on the first drive of the night, but a stingy Bearcat defense helped get the ball right back after an Acadiana field goal miss. On third and two on the ensuing drive, Powell ran for his first of three rushing touchdowns in from 72-yards out to put Ruston up 7-0 with 5:59 to play in the first quarter.
Acadiana was forced to punt on their next drive to put Ruston right at midfield. Junior quarterback Sam Hartwell would set up the next Bearcat touchdown with an 11-yard pickup to pick up a first down on Acadiana’s 18-yard line for Ruston’s first redzone trip. Two plays later, Powell scored again from 14 yards away to give Ruston a 14-0.
“(We’ve known how good Dalen) was coming through this program,” Baugh said. “It’s one of the great things that we do — working with those kids in the junior high. And really, you kind of know who the next people are in line, and they look to fit the mold for that. I think there’s always question marks whenever it’s someody that you’re not sure about, but I think he probably diminished any questions marks that anybody had about him.”
The Wreckin’ Rams would eventually turn the ball over on downs on the following drive, and it only took the Bearcats five plays to score again after — guess who? — Powell scampered in from 65 yards away to go up 21-0 with 6:12 to go in the first half.
Acadiana finally answered on their following drive with just two plays later to cut the Bearcat lead to 21-7 with 4:42 to go in the second quarter after senior Troy Kennerson busted out for a 91-yard touchdown run — the only long play of the night for the Rams.
Not be denied, Powell returned the ensuing kickoff back 89 yards for his final touchdown of the night at the 4:32 mark, putting Ruston up 28-7.
The Bearcat scoring then turned to a familiar target: junior Ahmad Hudson, who was out for the Jamboree, hauled in his first touchdown grab of the season with a beautiful throw up the sideline by Hartwell for a 63-yard reception, adding to Ruston’s lead at 35-7 with 1:52 to go in the half. After getting the ball back after a failed fake punt by Acadiana, Hudson grabbed a 1-yard TD with :09 to play in the first half to give Ruston a 42-7 lead to go into the halftime locker room.
“I think Sam is really comfortable just looking at what the leverage is that the corner may be playing (on Ahmad),” Baugh said. “If he’s over the top of him, he’ll throw it behind him towards the sideline. And Ahmad can make those catches. It’s really good to have somebody like that on your football team.”
The Wreckin’ Rams muffed the opening kickoff of the second half to set Ruston up on the Acadiana seven yard line. Two plays later, senior Cullen Clark grabbed a touchdown from five yards away to go up 49-7 with 11:13 to go in the third quarter.
The 42-point lead set up a running clock scenario for the remainder of the night, and Ruston was able to get the win 49-7 and start the 2025 season off with a terrific win.
Outside of the 91-yard touchdown run, Ruston’s defense locked down Acadiana for most of the night and held the Rams to 189 total rushing yards.
“Defensively, I thought we had a really good game plan,” Baugh said. “I thought our coaches did a good job implementing that. They do a very good job with our scot teams. It’s one of the things we do that’s probably abnormal compared to what a lot of other people do. We work our first group on our first group for our scout teams, and that’s the best way to get the best picture of what you’re going to see on a Friday night. It’s rough on a kid sometimes — it’s a little more physical than what a lot of people like during practice. But our coaches do a great job coaching those things. And then to me, it shows up on Friday’s that our kids get a very good picture of what they’re going to see.”
Senior Ra’Keem Potts finished with seven total tackles, while juniors Keilan Davis and Jayden Anding added four while grabbing an interception.
Powell ended his breakout party with 170 yards and four touchdowns. Hudson finished with 72 receiving yards, while senior Lander Smith had 20 yards receiving.
Hartwell finished 7-of-9 passing for 105 yards and three touchdowns.
Ruston returns to action Friday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. against Cabot High School in Arkansas. The game will be broadcast on Q94.1 FM and the Bearcat Nation Network.
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