By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON — West Point spent the first 8 minutes, 25 seconds Thursday night doing exactly what Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said it would — chewing the game clock and running the football efficiently.
That drive — and many others for the Green Wave — would not end in points as Ruston took a 29-2 win to go to the mid-point of the regular season schedule at James Field at Hoss Garrett Stadium. Ruston improved to 4-1. West Point fell to 0-5.
Junior running back Dalen Powell ran for two touchdowns in his return to the lineup, and the Bearcats scored twice in 15 seconds in the third quarter to close non-district play.
“I told our kids during the week that if you let those guys get first downs, they’re going to eat up the clock, and that’s exactly what happened in the first half,” Baugh said. “We had to steal a couple of possessions with some onside kicks to kind of spread the lead. They’re a good football team. I tried to tell everybody that their record is not any indication of how good they are. They hit district next week. I suspect things go a little bit different for them in the second half of the season.”
West Point’s opening drive ended on a turnover on downs on fourth-and-7, and Ruston answered with a 12-play, 78-yard drive capped by Powell’s 13-yard touchdown run at 10:10 of the second quarter. The Green Wave then put together a five-minute drive that reached fourth-and-goal at the 2. Tailback Kingston Branham was stopped inside the 1, and Ruston took over at 4:31. Five seconds later, Powell was tackled in the end zone for a safety that made it 7-2.
Powell scored again on a 20-yard run with 35 seconds left in the half and added the two-point conversion on a 2-yard run for a 15-2 lead. Ruston tried an onside kick after the score, but a kick-catch interference penalty gave West Point first-and-10 at the Ruston 36. The Bearcats led 15-2 at halftime.
Baugh said the long drives by West Point on the night limited what Ruston could do on offense.
“You have to protect yourself from being antsy or being overzealous about getting out there,” Baugh said. “Our defense, even though (West Point) didn’t score any points, was out there for nine minutes. Offensively, you feel like you may have some things in the throwing game, but you can’t go three-and-out and put your defense back out there, because that’s a bad situation to be in. So you have to eat up a little bit of clock so the defense can get their breath. It kind of limits what you’re able to do, but I thought our coaching staff did a good job of operating the way they needed to.”
Ruston put the game away early in the third quarter. The Bearcats opened the second half with a nine-play, 52-yard drive that took 4:06, and senior quarterback Sam Hartwell found senior tight end Ahmad Hudson for a 14-yard touchdown at 7:54. Senior kicker Joaquin Ramos tried another onside kick, and senior defensive lineman Jaymes Coleman recovered it. Shortly after, senior running back Kohl Gray broke a 51-yard touchdown run at 7:39 for the final score of 29-2.
Powell finished with 65 yards on 11 carries and caught three passes for 30 yards, and Gray ran four times for 63 yards. Hartwell completed 7 of 11 passes for 92 yards and ran for 34. Hudson caught three passes for 54 yards. Ruston gained 279 yards on 39 plays, averaging 7.2 yards per snap, and did not turn the ball over.
West Point ran 44 times for 150 yards and threw only five passes. The Green Wave converted 2 of 5 fourth-down tries and managed 61 yards after halftime. Senior linebacker Kadyn Gray led Ruston with six tackles, and senior defensive lineman Jerron Albritton had five tackles, two for loss.
Baugh said West Point brought in an extra offensive lineman, a couple of tight ends and three backs at times, and Ruston answered with six defensive linemen in some sets and five in others, going back to four when the Green Wave put receivers on the field.
“I’m telling you, they’re good. They try to block on you,” Baugh said. “It’s not like some of these teams that just have a bunch of pass protection guys. I thought our defensive staff did a good job of trying to match that. If you don’t do that, we’re not going to hold up as well without putting some bigger bodies in there to match what they had.”
Powell and sophomore defensive back Jayden Mendenhall both returned Thursday.
“I think maybe we’re kind of trickling back and getting healthy. Hopefully we can stay that way,” Baugh said. “I think Jayden will help us in the secondary for sure. It’s good to see him back mostly healthy. Dalen looked fine with his ankle.”
Junior linebacker Aidan Adams dressed but did not play.
“That was the plan going into the ball game, to let (Aidan) get dressed and go through and see how it felt in pregame warmups,” Baugh said. “I suspect he’ll be back with us at the beginning of the week next week.”
Thursday’s game was Ruston’s third in 12 days, and the Bearcats open district play next week at Ouachita. Players will be at school Friday for video and weights, then get Saturday off.
“I think our kids need a break,” Baugh said. “It’s kind of a midseason catch-your-breath going into district, and hopefully they’ll take advantage of that and rest themselves up. We’ll get a regular week of work, not having to modify practice like we’ve been having to do with Saturday games, Thursday games, transitioning from Saturday to Friday, Friday to Thursday. Even though Wednesday is a staff development day, so that’s going to be a little bit different for us.”
Baugh said the Bearcats have handled the shuffling.
“It seems like every week there’s been a little bit of something,” Baugh said. “But I think our kids have handled it well, and I like where we’re at at this point in the season.”
