RUSTON, La. — The ‘Cats just would not be denied.
Trailing at halftime for the second week in a row, Ruston High (11-2) found everything it needed in the second half on both defense and on the ground to hold off the Zachary Broncos (9-4) by a final score of 21-17 in Hoss Garrett Stadium to punch a fourth consecutive ticket to the Super Dome to play for a state championship.
It was done by a Bearcat roster that played with a chip on its shoulder all season long and silenced doubters along the way on whether they could keep the trips to New Orleans rolling.
“We knew that coming into the ball game that Zachary’s a very good football team, very talented, very well coached,” Ruston High Head Coach Jerrod Baugh said. “They don’t make a lot of mistakes and knew it was going to come down to the wire like that. And we just didn’t know what group was going to have to come up with the plays at the end. But we made the plays when we had to. And I think it says a lot about this senior class that nobody gave much credit to after we’ve had so many high profile players graduate.
“And they took it personal, went to work and put their head down and didn’t pay any attention to all the noise and quietly came through and won a bunch of ball games. I’m just proud for those guys.”
The Broncos started strong on offense after bobbling the open kickoff on their own seven-yard line and put together a 75-yard, 18-play drive that chewed over 10 minutes off of the first quarter. Zachary, however, would get no points after attempting a pass on fourth down that was broken up by junior safety Jaiden Anding to give the Bearcats the ball on their own 18-yard line with 2:42 to go in the first quarter.
Ruston answered with a long drive of its own, keeping the ball through the end of the first that ended in 19 minutes of real time. The Bearcats just dinked and dunked their way down the field, and junior Sam Hartwell would score with 8:35 to go in the second quarter from 11 yards out and put Ruston up 7-0 after a 14-play, 82-yard drive.
Zachary answered on their ensuing drive with a quick, seven-play drive that started on their own 25-yard line. Bronco senior quarterback Michael Kirby would connect on a long 38-yard pass on 1st-and-10 with 7:01 to go in the half to set the Broncos up in good field position on Ruston’s 23-yard line.
Just three plays later, the Broncos tied the game 7-7 with 5:32 to go before the half on a six-yard touchdown run by junior running back Tylek Lewis with 5:32 to go in the half.
Ruston would get the ball for their second and last drive of the first half and would drive the ball down to the Bronco 28-yard line thanks to two long runs by senior running back Jeremiah Freeman. The ‘Cats would turn the ball over on downs after Hartwell was hurried by linebacker Darrius Lee and forced to throw an incomplete pass on 4th-and-8.
The Broncos were able to get a 42-yard field goal through by Boston Bentley as time expired in the second quarter to go up 10-7 into the halftime locker room.
Ruston struck quickly in the third quarter after getting a 46-yard touchdown run by junior Kohl Gray with 10:36 on the clock to give the lead back to the Bearcats at 14-10. The coaches then sent the ‘Cats special teams back out for an onside kick to try to steal a possession, but an excellent play by Zachary’s hands team recovered the ball at the Bearcat 40-yard line. The defense would force a three-and out on the Bronco offense and retook the ball at their own 20-yard line following a punt for a touchback.
“I thought we had a shot at the onside kick,” Baugh said. “We kept wanting to pick up a possession somewhere or another. Every posession was going to be crucial, and I hoped (Zachary) made a mistake and they just didn’t really do it. That’s a tribute to (Bronco Head Coach David) Brewerton and his staff. They had a great plan.”
Zachary’s defense would then hold Ruston to a three-and-out, as well, but a 48-yard boot by Bearcat junior Joaquin Ramos put the Broncos back on their side of the field. And like the first quarter, the Broncos put together a long drive of over six minutes to get a touchdown from quarterback Michael Kirby from 10 yards out on a bootleg to the right side of the end zone to put the Broncos back up 17-14 heading into the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing Bearcat drive, Zachary’s defense got a key stop on third down after a pass break up by Jeremiah Smith at the end of the third quarter that was intended for Ruston junior tight end Ahmad Hudson. Ruston’s defense, again, got the stop it needed to get the ball back with 9:53 to go in the game after forcing yet another Bronco three-and-out.
Hartwell then practically donned a Superman cape on the go-ahead scoring drive and putting together two huge runs near the eight-minute mark. Then, on an incomplete pass later in the drive, Hartwell appeared to injure his right leg on an incomplete pass on second down. Following a loss of yards by Gray, Ruston faced a 4th-and-8 situation to keep the drive alive. Taking the snap under center, Hartwell dropped back with great protection and zipped a nine-yard pass completion to senior wide receiver Alex Hunt for the first down.
A few plays later, Gray got his second touchdown of the night with 5:11 to play to put Ruston up 21-17 for the final score. The defense stayed sharp for the night and held Zachary out of the end zone to get the win and head to New Orleans yet again.
Now, the Bearcats will face off with No. 14 Ouachita — a fellow District 2-5A rival that the Bearcats beat 21-14 at home back in Week 6 of the regular season.
“It’s going to be a big defensive battle,” Baugh said. “The tough thing about a ballgame like that and probably with them too is that everybody’s familiar with each other. It’s hard to sneak anything in on them because they know everything there is to know. So we’ll regroup (Saturday) morning and get back to work, hit the gas pedal, and try to go put a good gameplan together.”
Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13. The game will be broadcast on Q94.1 FM.
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