By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON — Catholic of Baton Rouge pulled within a touchdown two minutes into the second half Friday night.
Ruston then scored the next 28 points to rout the Bears.
Senior quarterback Sam Hartwell threw five touchdown passes and ran for another, and the Bearcats rolled up 662 yards of total offense in a 63-28 win over the Bears at James Field at Hoss Garrett Stadium. Ruston (3-1) bounced back from a 21-14 loss to Edna Karr at the Caesars Superdome six days earlier. Catholic fell to 1-3.
Ruston managed 234 yards against Karr, and Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh did not need long to make the comparison.
“Could have used 100 of those yards last week,” Baugh said. “Very good bounce-back ball game for offense. I thought we were really inconsistent last week in what we were doing, and it’s just like I talked about after that ball game. We’ve got to develop some consistency.”
Hartwell completed 17 of 27 passes for 316 yards without an interception and ran 14 times for 162 yards. Senior tight end Ahmad Hudson caught eight passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns, all after halftime. Senior running back Kohl Gray ran for 146 yards and three scores on 16 carries.
Catholic scored first on a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass from junior quarterback Camden Estep to senior tight end Jude Chamberlain at 9:25 of the first quarter. Hartwell answered with a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Keshun Malcolm at 5:51, Malcolm’s first touchdown of the season.
The Bears needed 46 seconds to go back in front. Estep found junior receiver Jaden Moffitt for a 68-yard touchdown at 5:05. Ruston tied it when senior receiver Josiah Morgan’s 46-yard catch set up first-and-goal at the 1, and Gray scored from there at 4:06.
After senior kicker Joaquin Ramos missed a 42-yard field goal early in the second quarter, the Ruston defense got the ball back. Senior defensive back Jayden Anding intercepted Estep on fourth-and-3 at 8:11, and 19 seconds later Hartwell kept the ball on an option and went 85 yards for a 21-14 lead.
Ramos followed with an onside kick, and senior defensive back Jermyron Newsome recovered it. Gray then scored on a 17-yard run at 5:54. The extra point was not officially attempted after a muffed hold, leaving Ruston ahead 27-14.
Senior running back Jayden Miles pulled Catholic within 27-21 on an 11-yard run at 2:49. Ruston answered before the half. Gray scored from 1 yard out with 20 seconds left, and the Bearcats added a two-point conversion on a trick play, a reverse to Hudson, who threw to Hartwell for a “Philly Special” and gave Ruston the lead 35-21 at halftime.
Catholic needed only two minutes of the third quarter to get back within a score. Estep hit Moffitt for a 19-yard touchdown at 10:00 to make it 35-28.
The Bears did not score again.
The Bearcat offensive onslaught in the second half started when Hartwell found Hudson for a 17-yard touchdown at 7:21, and Ramos tried another onside kick. Catholic had three chances to secure the ball, but sophomore running back Rhett Patterson came up with it for Ruston. Hudson scored again on a 46-yard catch at 5:52.
Morgan closed the third quarter with a 10-yard touchdown for a 56-28 lead after a shovel pass from Hartwell, giving the senior quarterback five touchdown passes on the night. Morgan finished with five catches for 98 yards, while Hudson added a 6-yard touchdown catch at 7:12 of the fourth quarter for the final margin.
Baugh noted the two recovered onside kicks as a huge swing in the game for his Bearcats.
“Picking up the extra possessions, I thought Joaquin’s two onside kicks were excellent, and our coverage team did a really good job recovering those,” Baugh said. “We know we can do that. They never really changed their alignment until the end, after we got that second one. And that’s really what you want them to do, because then they start shuffling things around. They’re not going to be able to set up a return like they want to and like they had game-planned for, and then we can hit some other spots on the field. So I thought it was just what we planned.”
Ruston ran the ball 43 times and threw it 28, finished with 40 first downs and did not turn the ball over. Baugh said the passing game was in tune.
“We’ve been shooting to try to be 50-50 as far as play selection is concerned,” Baugh said. “We looked for matchups that we like with the guys that we’ve got versus their guys. I thought our coaches did a good job of getting that lined up and taking advantage of what they had out there in front of them.”
Baugh credited the offensive staff with the plan.
“I thought we had some good matchups out wide, threw the ball well for the most part and had good protection for the most part up front,” Baugh said. “And ran the ball really well.”
Ruston did it without junior running back Dalen Powell and junior linebacker Aidan Adams.
“Anytime you’re without Dalen and Aidan Adams, that is really a tough situation, with a guy inside missing defensively,” Baugh said. “I think (junior) Shamar Evans did some good things in there. It was good to have him in there getting a lot of reps. And Kohl Gray, I hate not to call him the starting running back, because he is a starter. I think he did a great job. We shuffled some guys around personnel grouping-wise and did what we had to do. At the end of the day, whenever you’re missing guys, that’s what you have to do.”
Evans was credited with three tackles, while senior linebacker Kadyn Gray led Ruston with five.
Catholic finished with 490 yards. Estep completed 14 of 34 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Moffitt caught three passes for 135 yards and two scores, and Miles ran for 100 yards on 13 carries.
Baugh said the Bears exposed things Ruston still has to fix.
“We did what we had to do to try to spread the lead,” Baugh said. “We had a rough time in the first half getting them slowed down. They’re very good on offense. They’ve got some really good skill guys. We got blocked up front. They’re good on the offensive line, and we’ve still got some things that we need to continue to work on. They exposed some things. That’s what happens whenever you play good football teams. And so we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
Baugh said the Bearcats have yet to put all three phases together at once.
“I really wish we could match it up to get that done in all three phases of the game at the same time, because I think we could be a really, really good football team if we’re able to do that,” Baugh said. “Hopefully we’ll get that matched up. It is just Week 4, so we’ve got a lot of weeks to get together and continue to improve and work on those things. But really pleased with our offense.”
Ruston closes its non-district schedule Thursday against West Point, Miss., at Hoss Garrett Stadium.
“It’s flying by. That’s how it goes,” Baugh said of the season. “Everybody is longing for the season to get here, and then the next thing you know, it’s halfway done, and then it won’t be long, the regular season will be over. But we’ve got to take advantage of every opportunity we have to get better in practice.”
The Thursday game costs the Bearcats a practice day, but Baugh said it costs West Point one, too.
“I think our kids do good whenever we shuffle our plan around,” Baugh said. “It’s not like we’re playing on Thursday and they’re playing on Friday. So we’ll just have to speed up our plan, make sure it’s simple enough so that our kids are understanding it, and make sure they’re knowledgeable about what it is we’re trying to do.”
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