By Kyle Roberts
NEW ORLEANS — Ruston erased a 14-point deficit in the first half Saturday and got the ball back at the Edna Karr 16 with 12 seconds left, but the top-ranked Bearcats could not find the tying score in a 21-14 loss to the No. 2 Cougars at the Caesars Superdome in the final seconds.
Senior running back Jermond Macklin ran for all three Karr touchdowns, the last a 3-yard run with 9:31 to play that broke a tie that had stood since the second quarter. Karr, the defending Division I select state champion, improved to 3-0. Ruston fell to 2-1 in the opening game of the Inspire the City Invitational. Karr improves to 3-0 on the year.
“I think it would have been big if we were able to get over the hump (in the Superdome), especially against a team like Karr,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “But we didn’t. We’ve got to figure out how to make things happen when we get here.”
Karr scored twice in a little more than two minutes to open the game. Macklin went in from 3 yards out at 6:09 of the first quarter. Senior quarterback Sam Hartwell was then intercepted on a third-and-13, and Macklin scored from 11 yards out at 4:04 for a 14-0 lead.
Ruston answered 57 seconds later. Junior running back Dalen Powell broke a 71-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7, and his 14-yard run at 6:24 of the second quarter tied the game.
Karr managed seven points the rest of the way, and Baugh said the damage done early was unfortunate for his squad.
“We can’t spot a team like that 14 points early in the game, because I thought defensively we kind of hung in there,” Baugh said.
The Ruston defense kept it tied into the half. The Bearcats stopped Karr on downs at 4:07 of the second quarter, and senior defensive back Keilan Davis intercepted junior quarterback Forest Johnson on third-and-11 with eight seconds left before halftime.
Ruston did not score in the second half, and Baugh said the Bearcats let their first drive after halftime get away.
“We didn’t do the things necessary to get it in the end zone, and that’s one of the things we’ve got to work on,” Baugh said. “We’re so inconsistent offensively and defensively. You look out there and you’ll see a really, really good football team, and then you’ll look out there and it looks like we never played. I mean, that’s part of growing up.”
Davis also had a hand in the Bearcats’ boldest call of the night. Facing fourth-and-11 with 8:01 to go in the third quarter, Ruston faked a punt, and senior kicker Joaquin Ramos completed a 33-yard pass to Davis to extend the drive. The Bearcats did not get any points out of it.
“We felt like we had something there,” Baugh said. “They were playing basically man coverage. We kind of felt good about that. We were trying to get a first down out of it. When you pull the trigger and call something like that, you’ve got to be able to execute.”
Karr came away empty late in the third quarter. Junior quarterback Marlon Jones converted a fourth-and-2 at 3:15 with a long run that gave the Cougars first-and-goal at the 7. Four plays later, the Bearcats stopped Karr on fourth-and-goal from the 2 with 1:31 left in the quarter.
The tie held until Macklin’s 3-yard run at 9:31 of the fourth quarter.
Ruston’s last chance came on a Karr mistake. A high snap on a Karr punt with 12 seconds left was recovered by the Bearcats, who took over with first-and-10 at the Karr 16. Ruston could not complete a pass from there, and the game ended.
Baugh said a different finish would not have changed what Ruston has to fix.
“You tell me — if we go down and we manage to throw the ball in the end zone and go for 2 and win, that doesn’t change anything that happened previously in the ball game,” Baugh said. “We still got to make those corrections and do what we need to do to move on. What we can’t do is get hung up on this football game.”
Powell ran for 119 yards and both touchdowns on 17 carries. Hartwell completed 12 of 27 passes for 104 yards. Senior receiver Josiah Morgan caught four passes for 33 yards, and senior tight end Ahmad Hudson caught four for 29. Ruston was held to 234 total yards and converted 1 of 11 third downs, though it went 4 of 6 on fourth down.
Davis and senior linebacker Kadyn Gray led the Bearcats with six tackles each. Kadyn Gray had three tackles for loss, and Davis had one to go with the interception. Junior linebacker Aidan Adams and freshman defensive back Reed Williams had five tackles apiece. Ruston finished with 10 tackles for loss and forced two turnovers.
Macklin carried 11 times for 58 yards. Jones ran eight times for a team-high 73 yards and completed 4 of 10 passes for 17 yards, and Johnson went 11 of 18 for 82 yards. Sophomore Brenin Reed caught five passes for 30 yards. Karr outgained Ruston 258-234 and ran 59 plays to the Bearcats’ 52.
Baugh said the Cougars won the effort battle at times.
“They’ve got their kids playing hard. They’re used to winning football games,” Baugh said. “There were times in the ball game I felt like they were playing harder than us. We just got to do a better job.”
The Bearcats go back to work Sunday afternoon.
“We’ve got video. We’re going to get after it,” Baugh said. “And then after all that’s over, they show up Monday, and it’s all about Catholic.”
Ruston hosts Catholic of Baton Rouge on Friday at James Field at Hoss Garrett Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
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