By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — Ruston High School begins District 2-5A play Friday when the Bearcats (4-1) travel to face Ouachita (3-2) at Ouachita Lion Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
“We’ve had a good stretch of tough opponents up to this point in the season,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “Our kids have played a very tough schedule, and there’s always things we need to work on each and every week. You play that kind of schedule to get you ready for district play and the postseason. We still have room to improve, but I feel good about where we’re at.”
The Bearcats have outscored opponents 184-89 through five games, averaging 36.8 points while allowing 17.8. Ruston has also converted 16 of 19 trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line into touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Sam Hartwell has completed 55 of 92 passes for 778 yards and six touchdowns, with two interceptions, and has added 249 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Junior running back Dalen Powell leads the ground game with 635 yards and 13 touchdowns on 80 carries, an average of 7.9 yards per attempt.
Senior tight end Ahmad Hudson has 26 catches for 413 yards and four touchdowns.
Ruston closed non-district play last Thursday with a 29-2 win over West Point, Miss., at James Field at Hoss Garrett Stadium, improving to 4-1 and dropping West Point to 0-5. Powell returned to the lineup and scored twice, on runs of 13 and 20 yards, and added a two-point conversion. He finished with 65 yards on 11 carries and caught three passes for 30 yards.
West Point held the ball for long stretches in the first half, but the Bearcats still led 15-2 at the break. West Point’s only points came on a safety when Powell was tackled in the end zone. Ruston then scored twice in 15 seconds in the third quarter, first on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Hartwell to Hudson and then on a 51-yard run by senior running back Kohl Gray. The Bearcats gained 279 yards on 39 plays and did not turn the ball over, while the defense limited West Point to 150 yards on 44 rushing attempts.
Ouachita is coming off a 42-21 loss at Central-Baton Rouge last Friday. Ouachita’s three wins this season came against C.E. Byrd (44-37), Wossman (43-28) and Sterlington (28-21), and their other loss was a 49-0 defeat at Neville.
Baugh said Ruston has rarely had an easy time at Ouachita.
“Every time we go over there, it’s always a close game,” Baugh said. “Maybe it goes into overtime or it comes down to the last play. They’re always tough to play at their place.”
Baugh also pointed to last season’s state championship game and the attention paid to players who graduated.
“Last year, I think we left some plays out there in the state championship game,” Baugh said. “And I think a lot of their players may have a chip on their shoulder that they feel like everyone talks about the players that graduated and not as much about this team. That could very well be something that motivates them in this game.”
Baugh said he hopes the Ruston community shows up again.
“I’d like to think our community will be able to come out and support the kids the same way they’ve supported them so far this season,” Baugh said. “We’ve had some really good crowds up to this point, and our kids feed off of that. It should be a really good game against a really good football team.”
The game will be broadcast on Q94.1 FM and the Bearcat Nation Network.
