By T. Scott Boatright
Time flies when you’re having fun.
It sure worked that way for the Ruston Bearcats Friday in their 70-0 win over Peabody at L.J. “Hoss” Garrett Stadium as they built a big enough lead to start a running clock at the beginning of the second quarter, already holding a 42-0 advantage over the Warhorses.
Seeing the clock start running without stoppage that early was something new for longtime Bearcats offensive coordinator Earl Griffin.
“I haven’t been part of anything like that,” Griffin said. “We talked about that on the sideline pretty early on. I’ve been around Ruston all of my life and I don’t think I’ve ever seen 70 points either. We were trying to get some of the younger guys in, but we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we told them not to try to score. We can’t tell them that if they get a chance to score a touchdown, stop. It goes against everything we try to teach them. So just seeing the younger guys get to go out and compete and be excited for each other was great.
“We got our starters out of there late in the first quarter and early in the second quarter, and they were the biggest cheerleaders of anybody on the field. We preach that day in and day out, and they did a great job of doing that as well.”
The three-quarter running clock was also something new for RHS defensive coordinator Marcus Yanez, who saw his defense force multiple early turnovers that ignited the Bearcats’ early scoring onslaught.
“We were a little concerned about it because we didn’t think we had a very good week of practice overall as a team,” Yanez said. “You kind of go into it just watching on film, knowing that you may be a little better than the competition, but at the end of the day, this week, just like any other week, should be about Ruston getting Ruston better, regardless of who we’re playing.
“But the kids did come out and took advantage of opportunities when they got them, and they did go and get them, create them. Seeing the scoreboard at the end of the first quarter and seeing the running clock start the second quarter was something I had never been part of until tonight. That part of it did surprise me a little bit. Kudos to Peabody, because they could have just quit, but you could see they had some kids out there still going full speed and playing all four quarters.”
Seeing quarterback Aulds Garvin, who also threw a 5-yard scoring pass, score on a 15-yard run before the Bearcats’ third QB of the night — Tyler Osborne — turned in a 60-yard scoring scamper was something Griffin took particular pride in.
“We had a scrimmage this past week and both of those guys ran the ball pretty good, so we had that in the game plan if our second or third group got to go in,” Griffin said. “They just capitalized on what we worked on in that Wednesday scrimmage. I’m proud of those two young guys for getting in there and scoring touchdowns.”
Griffin said being able to get younger Bearcats significantly more playing time than usual was invaluable.
“Of course, experience is second to none,” Griffin said. “Like at quarterback, with (starter) Sam Hartwell being a senior — next year he’s going to be getting out of here — we’re going to need one of those young guys to step up. So, I was glad to see them get in and have the confidence that if we need them again, they’ve got more experience after tonight.”
“I do have to hope this kind of win doesn’t cause a hangover next week,” Griffin said. “But with this group, I think we’ll be fine. Most of these guys didn’t help win the 2023 state championship, so they’re hungry.”
Yanez said seeing his Bearcats swarm to the football and hang on for the shutout was something the RHS defense can build on.
“We really try to focus on having more points than the opposing team, but any time you can keep the other team from getting to the end zone or putting points on the scoreboard is a good thing.
“The standard is always going to be the standard. Sometimes the biggest opponent can be yourself. This week they knew (the RHS coaching staff) wanted to see them not rest on their laurels and make sure we were making the effort to play our brand of football, and that’s being relentless in pursuing the football with all 11 hats. And that’s how we got the shutout tonight.”
