By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — First came the blowout win.
Now comes the waiting.
Ruston High manhandled West Monroe 41-14 Friday in the final game of the regular season, and the Bearcats (8-2, 4-1 District 2-5A) can do nothing now but watch the power points and the playoff bracket. They sit on the cusp of the No. 4 seed, which would carry with it a first-round bye. West Monroe, meanwhile, finished 6-4 (3-2 District 2-5A) and may not finish high enough to host a first round home matchup.
The game itself was not much of a wait. It was a ground show, and junior running back Dalen Powell was the headliner with more than two hundred yards from scrimmage and a pair of touchdowns.
Powell opened the scoring with a 46-yard touchdown run at 9:53 of the first quarter, a three-play, 55-yard drive. He closed it with an 87-yard touchdown run at 1:53 of the fourth. In between, he piled up 220 yards on 22 carries, a 10.0-yard average. He also caught four passes for 33 yards.
Senior quarterback Sam Hartwell kept the option humming. His 24-yard keeper capped a nine-play, 62-yard drive and made it 14-7 late in the first quarter. He added a 5-yard touchdown keeper in the third quarter and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Josiah Morgan in the fourth. Hartwell finished 10 of 14 for 135 yards with one interception, and carried seven times for 57 yards.
Senior tight end Ahmad Hudson was his top target, catching four passes for 80 yards. The Bearcats rolled up 451 total yards, 316 of them on the ground, and converted 10 of 12 third downs.
West Monroe played a competitive two quarters and some change into the early third. Jase Frost scored on a 2-yard run to tie it 7-7 in the first quarter, and Brady Guillot hit Jordan Coleman for a 20-yard touchdown pass early in the third to cut the lead to 20-14. That score came after West Monroe recovered a fumbled opening kickoff at the Ruston 20.
Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh was not thrilled with how the Bearcats handled the kickoff.
“You’ve got to be able to do that,” Baugh said. “Whether that was a fumble or not, we’ve got to hang on to the football all the way to the ground so it’s not up for debate with the officials. But I thought our offense really answered the call. West Monroe made a really good play call and a really good play to get the ball in the end zone, and you’ve got to be able to answer those against good football teams. If you don’t, that turns into a real momentum booster for them. When your offense gets out there and answers, it fizzles that out, and it’s not as big as what it could have turned into.”
The Bearcats answered after Hartwell was intercepted at 9:16 of the third. Ruston’s defense got the ball right back when senior defensive back Bryce Gates picked off a pass at 7:38 at the Rebel 37-yard line. Hartwell then needed seven plays and 37 yards to score and make it 27-14 at 5:18.
Baugh said the defense found its footing after halftime. Earlier, with 3:42 left in the second quarter, it had stopped the Rebels on fourth-and-goal. He also said West Monroe’s ground game was what worried him going in.
“What they did offensively, running the football, was what I was afraid of,” Baugh said. “At times they ran the ball really well against us. I was worried about the size difference of their offensive line to our defensive line. We knew (Luke) Vallery was a good player, and they’re trying to find ways to get him the football, which is what you’re supposed to do. They’re going to make plays. In the playoffs the teams get better and better. They’re going to have playmakers who get loose, and we’re just going to have to get them tackled. Don’t let it turn into a touchdown, get them tackled and make them do that over and over. I thought our defense steadied up after the first half.”
West Monroe finished with 230 total yards on 4.7 yards per play and converted 3 of 11 third downs. Freshman defensive back Reed Williams led Ruston with six tackles, two for loss. Junior linebacker Aidan Adams had five tackles, two for loss.
Baugh was just as pleased with the work up front on offense, and he said the line has been a big reason the backs have found room.
“I think our offensive line is gelling and playing together as well as they have all year,” Baugh said. “The past three ball games, I’ve been really pleased with what I’m seeing up front with those guys. It’s a little easier to be a running back when those big guys up front are taking care of guys for you.”
One coaching decision stood out: After senior running back Kohl Gray scored from 4 yards out late in the second quarter, the extra point attempt did not count because of a high snap, leaving Ruston up 20-7. Later, when the lead was 20-14, Baugh was asked why he kept the offense on the field instead of going for 2 at some point. He said he felt comfortable where the game stood and did not want to show his two-point plays unless he had to.
“I never thought we lost control of the ball game at any point,” Baugh said. “I didn’t see the need for giving them any more momentum if we go for 2 and we don’t get it. I like our set of two-point plays that we practice, and I didn’t really want to show that if I didn’t have to, particularly going into the playoffs. It was a combination of a lot of different things.”
Gray’s score capped an 11-play, 94-yard drive. Morgan’s touchdown in the fourth capped a 13-play, 72-yard march that made it 34-14 at 5:45, and Powell’s long run sealed it at the end of the night.
Now the Bearcats wait for the seeds to come out on Sunday. Baugh said he feels pretty confident Ruston will land the bye, and he explained how the points could fall.
“I feel pretty confident that we’ll end up with a bye,” Baugh said. “We’ll get some help from West Monroe’s wins that they have, and then the wins that we’ll gain in the non-district stuff. I feel like all three of those will win, so we’ll end up picking up points for the win here.”
Regardless, the Bearcats finished out the season strong with a win over a rival and will take that into the postseason — whenever it so happens to start for Ruston.
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:45 right to your inbox. Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
