RUSTON, La. — Ruston High closes the regular season Friday night on the road against the West Monroe, with a fifth straight win over the Rebels and a shot at a fifth straight first-round playoff bye both in play.
The Bearcats (8-2, 3-1 District 2-5A) are No. 5 in the power rankings and need to climb to No. 4 to earn the first-round bye. Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said the week-10 game is a useful measuring stick before the playoffs begin.
“I think this is a really good ball game to have in week 10 to give us an indication of where we are going into the playoffs,” Baugh said. “Are we going to play like a confident team going into the playoffs? You really don’t want to go out and not play well and not have a good feeling going into the playoffs. So I think this is a good test for us to see exactly where we are, looking at the playoff run.”
Ruston has beaten West Monroe (6-3, 3-1 District 2-5A) four seasons in a row, though Baugh noted the recent winning streak has not been a topic of conversation inside the Bearcat program.
“I haven’t heard anything on that. We haven’t really talked about that,” Baugh said. “I think it got talked about a bunch whenever we were trying to win that ball game a few years ago. I don’t think so much now. I think our kids expect to go out and win that ball game now. Maybe from their perspective, it may get talked about a little bit more over there than it did when it was flip-flopped.
“I think our kids seem to be more focused this week, probably more so than any other week, to be honest. As long as we can continue that all the way up until 7 o’clock on Friday, we shouldn’t have any excuse not to play well.”
On film, Baugh said the first thing that stands out about West Monroe is its defense, which he said has been strong over the past three weeks even when the Rebels have played their backups.
“You can look at the scores of their games the past three weeks, and you can tell their defense is playing well,” Baugh said. “I don’t care who it is you’re playing, if you can keep the other team from scoring… It wasn’t just their first group out there. They’re putting second group, third group out there, and you can still keep a zero on the scoreboard for the other team. That’s a big deal.”
Baugh also credited the return of West Monroe quarterback Brady Guillot with steadying the Rebel offense.
“I do think getting their quarterback back has steadied them up on offense,” Baugh said. “I think he’s got a really good handle on what it is that they’re asking him to do with the offense.”
The Rebels’ offensive line is the part of the matchup Baugh said concerns him most. West Monroe’s roster lists several linemen at 300 pounds or more, among them 6-foot-3, 310-pound Alex Adkins and 6-foot-1, 305-pound Armon Hargrove.
“One thing that bothers me a little bit is their offensive line. They’re really big. They’re very physical, and of course, we’re undersized up front on the defensive line,” Baugh said. “So I think that matchup, how we handle those big guys up front, is going to be something to keep an eye on.”
Ruston arrives at West Monroe in good physical shape, though illness has hit the team this week. Baugh said the Bearcats are about as healthy as a team can expect to be in week 10, with the exception of a flu bug and stomach bugs that have kept some players out of practice.
“We’re probably about as healthy as we could be going into week 10,” Baugh said. “Seems to be a flu bug and stomach bugs going around this week, so we’ve had some kids missing here or there. But as far as body injuries, I think we’re in as good a shape as what you’d expect to be in going into the 10th week.”
The prospect of the first-round bye is what Baugh is following most closely. He said the bracket setup gives Ruston an advantage, and that a bye gives the team a week of practice to work on things it cannot always emphasize during a normal game week.
“The things that I feel like have been beneficial to us are absolutely having the bye to be able to go out to practice that week and work on some things that you might not have an opportunity to really hone in on when you’re getting ready for an opponent,” Baugh said. “And playing a lot of home playoff games has been really good. I think our community and fans and students have shown up to support our guys, and that’s a really big deal, not having to get on the road for playoff games. We haven’t played a road playoff game since, I think, 2022. I absolutely think that has been an advantage.
“So the higher up there we can land, I think that’s absolutely beneficial for our team. I have kept an eye on that, so hopefully that works out in our favor too.”
The Rebels are on a three-game winning streak and most recently beat Peabody 48-0. The Bearcats won their homecoming game last week against Pineville 48-14.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. tonight and will be broadcast on Q94.1 FM and will be streamed on BearcatNationNetwork.com.
