By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — Ruston High (6-1, 2-0 District 2-5A) took quick care of the Peabody Warhorses (2-5, 0-2 District 2-5A) Friday night by a final score of 70-0 after scoring 42 points in the first quarter alone.
“I thought our guys came out to play and executed what we asked them to do for the most part,” Ruston High Head Coach Jerrod Baugh said. “We did have some busts early on that we’ve got to get corrected. We’ve got to get ready to play a good football team next week.”
It didn’t take long for the Bearcats to get rolling. Senior quarterback Sam Hartwell hit senior wide receiver Josiah Morgan on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 8:19 to go in the first quarter, capping a seven-play, 36-yard drive for a 7-0 lead.
Hartwell went back to work on the next possession, finding senior wide receiver JP Moak from seven yards out with 6:42 left in the first for a 14-0 advantage.
Then the defense got involved.
Senior defensive back Jayden Anding picked off a Peabody pass and took it 35 yards to the house with 5:19 to play in the first, and it was 21-0.
Back-up quarterback (and starting linebacker, no less) Aidan Adams then punched in a 5-yard touchdown run with 3:08 left in the first to make it 28-0. Hartwell then connected with junior running back Dalen Powell on an 11-yard touchdown pass with 2:25 to go in the quarter for a 35-0 lead.
Powell wasn’t done. With just two seconds left in the first, he took a handoff 51 yards for a touchdown to send the Bearcats to 42-0 after one. The first quarter alone took 57 minutes of real time before the running clock kicked in for the night.
Ruston started getting its younger players involved in the second quarter. Freshman quarterback Aulds Garvin found senior wide receiver Keshun Malcolm on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 5:45 to go in the half to make it 49-0.
Baugh said the extra snaps behind center were a welcome part of the night.
“We need to get those guys some snaps,” Baugh said. “Anytime you can get some other guys in the ballgame to get some experience, that’s always good. It was good to get an opportunity to get them in.”
Senior running back Davis DeMoss opened the second half with a 36-yard touchdown run with 10:25 to go in the third for a 56-0 lead. Garvin added a 15-yard touchdown run with 1:43 left in the third to make it 63-0.
Junior quarterback Tyler Osborne closed the scoring with a 60-yard touchdown run with 5:08 to play in the fourth.
Powell led the ground game with 88 yards and a score on six carries. Osborne’s one carry went for 60 yards, DeMoss had 40 yards and a touchdown on three carries, and Garvin added 15 yards and a score on his lone rush. Ruston finished with 232 rushing yards and averaged 13.6 yards per carry.
Through the air, Hartwell was 4-of-6 for 44 yards and three touchdowns. Garvin was 2-of-2 for 10 yards and a score. Senior tight end Ahmad Hudson led Ruston with two catches for 34 yards. Morgan, Powell, Malcolm and Moak each caught a touchdown pass.
The Bearcats finished with 307 total yards, while Peabody had minus-26 yards, four turnovers, one first down and no third-down conversions in seven tries.
Anding finished with two tackles and the interception return for a score, and Adams also had two tackles. Ruston’s defense also forced four turnovers.
Baugh said the win doesn’t mean the work is done, especially with the focus on cleaning up habits in practice.
“It’s always great. I don’t take any victory for granted by any means. They’re all hard to come by,” Baugh said. “But Ruston always needs to work on Ruston. There are some things we’re going to need to clean up. Practice habits are one of them, and hopefully that’ll go better tomorrow when we can take it one day at a time leading into the ballgame on Friday.”
Next up is a road trip to central Louisiana to face the Alexandria Trojans next Friday, Oct. 23. Baugh said the Bearcats haven’t played well against ASH in recent years and that this senior class has not beaten the Trojans, aside from the handful of players who dressed out as freshmen.
“They are a really good football team. We haven’t played well against them the past couple of years,” Baugh said. “I feel like we should have some motivation going into tomorrow to start getting ready to play ASH next Friday night.”
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