By Kyle Roberts
(All photos are credited to Gioia Tatum)
RUSTON, La. — “Phenomenal.”
That’s the word I.A. Lewis Head Coach Curtis Goodwin used to describe this past season for the Rams after getting four wins through a tough schedule.
“This is the strongest group I’ve had since I’ve been here,” Goodwin said. “Talent-wise, they’re up there with the eighth graders. And size-wise, wow! I’ll look up to the offensive line in multiple places. They were that big.”
For Goodwin, the I.A. Lewis season in the Ruston High School pipeline is normally about learning the basic fundamentals of football – line of scrimmage, first downs, penalties, etc. And sometimes that takes all season to get down.
Not this year.
”This team learned so much fast than other groups (in the past),” Goodwin said. “Their football IQ seemed to grow more quickly than the others. Of course, there are always bumps in our learning curve, but they have really taken on what it means to be a Ruston football player. You can tell this is what they want to do — it’s a dream come true for them.”
Opening up, the Rams got a 22-6 win over West Ridge to start the 2025 season after only being in pads for two weeks. Ram runnings back Kingston Venzant showed the staff early that he would be a force to reckon with.
”We really didn’t know what we had,” Goodwin said. “We knew we were going to be good and talented, but this was the first contest. The guys did extremely well, and Kingston showed us that he was a real dude. And West Ridge was in shock – I don’t think they lost a sixth grade game last year.”
The Rams then played the seventh grade Ruston Junior High Squad (Goodwin — “We were intimidated, but fought very hard. It was a good learning experience.”) before having the Red-White game, which is an intrasquad game.
“That was a good learning experience for all the boys,” Goodwin said. “Everyone — all 64 Rams — got to play in the game.”
I. A. Lewis then beat Good Hope at home 38-6 on Sept. 15, thanks to multiple sacks and multiple interceptions, including one being run back for a touchdown. A week later, the Rams came back from behind against West Ridge after trailing at halftime to win 21-6.
And according to Goodwin, the final game of the year was cancelled by Riser after hearing about the final score against Good Hope, giving the Rams four wins on the season.
For Goodwin, one of the coolest moments happened off the football field and in the car pickup line. Several former Rams who are now playing for Louisiana Tech were able to come visit the team and saw how much the kids had learned. Goodwin said the Bulldogs were impressed what the football knowledge the kids had picked up.
“It was a good full circle moment,” Goodwin said. “Having Jadon Mayfield, Jacoryian Crowe, Zheric Hill and Christian Davis come — these guys are heroes to our kids. And they were able to share that they were in their spot at one time.”
All of this leads Goodwin to believe that Ruston High football will be in very capable hads as this group continues to grow and move through the Ruston Junior High program and then to the main campus.
“The future is indeed bright,” Goodwin said. “This group’s football IQ was just higher than the average football player in the sixth grade. It took them no time at all to understand our system. They knew what we were trying to do with the football instead of just running crazy passing plays. They knew there was purpose behind it. There’s a lot of positive going forward, especially with this group. We told them that if they stay together and work, it’s very positive from here.”
2025 Rams Roster
1 Jayce Curry WR/DB
2 Jayton Elmore WR/DB
3 Mayes Brister QB/SS
4 An’Tavious Gipson RB/DB
5 Jason Richardson WR/DB
6 Kace Green WR/DB
7 Kyndon Crowe RB/DB
8 Patrick Gillum WR/DB
9 Eli Andrews RB/DB
10 Hayes Martin QB/SS
11 Carson Duke QB/LB
12 Luke Shipley QB/LB
13 Micheal Holden WR/DB
15 Terrian Outley WR/DB
16 Kevin Klepzig WR/DB
17 Rentz Williams TE/DB
18 Joshua Walker Jr RB/LB
19 Jayceon Holmes TE/DE
21 Levi Carr RB/LB
22 Kris Inghem TE/LB
23 Kingston Venzant RB/SS
24 King Reed WR/DB
25 Justin Bass RB/SS
26 DeAndre Hargrove RB/LB
27 Carson Albritton WR/DB
28 Trenton Summerville WR/DB
29 Cooper Powell WR/DB
30 Ezekial Wilson WR/DB
31 Harper Taylor RB/LB
32 Darrius Ford RB/LB
37 Ashton Drayton RB/DT
38 Ziyen Weathers TE/SS
39 Brennen Jackson TE/LB
50 Justin Patton OL/LB
52 Collier Voorhees OL/DL
53 Noah Morrow OL/DL
54 Kash Mitchell OL/DL
55 Radien Underwood OL/DL
56 Cade Gill OL/LB
58 Timothy Moore OL/DL
59 Kortney Gilmore OL/DL
61 Elias Brown OL/DL
62 Korbin Vincent OL/LB
63 Larrius Robinson OL/DL
64 Kai Flowers OL/DL
66 Slade Young OL/DL
68 Tanner Spivey OL/DL
69 Wyatt Ovitt OL/DL
71 Logan Greenwood OL/DL
73 Marcus Rowden OL/DL
74 Lucas McCann OL/DL
75 Fred Hearn OL/DL
76 LaJameon Lenard OL/DL
77 Ahmad Warren OL/DL
80 Jace Moss WR/DB
81 Calvin Howard WR/DB
33 Monteis Harper Jr TE/DE
