RUSTON, La. — Friday night in Hoss Garrett Stadium was not short of excitement.
And as junior Joaquin Ramos’ 20-yard field goal cleared the uprights with time expiring, Ruston High (3-0) capped off an amazing night of high school football with a 38-35 win over the Longview Lobos to start the season undefeated and to give the home fans something to cheer for.
“I’m proud of our kids for finding a way to win the football game,” Ruston High Head Coach Jerrod Baugh said. “I think we struggled a little bit defensively at different times, but at the end of the day, it gets to the end of the ball game and you need a stop. And they got that. Then our offense got the ball in position to get a field goal, and that’s what counts.
“I think everybody was looking forward to getting back here on our home turf. And it’s really good to see everybody come out and support these guys, especially after we’ve been on two road trips, and then we’ll take two more. We hit the road here to be for a quick week. So we’ve got a lot of work to do in a short shorter period of time. And you know, it’ll be back to the drawing board, and we’ll get back to work tomorrow morning.”
It was a back-and-forth touchdown slugfest between two historic football teams. Longview got on the scoreboard first with a trick play call for a half-back pass to sophomore Jaden Hurndon from 28 yards out to put Longview up 7-0. The Bearcats would answer a few minutes later with their own touchdown drive of 11 plays, and 66 yards, which ended with sophomore Dalen Powell scoring from three yards away with :06 seconds to go in the first quarter. Following an offsides call on the defense, the Bearcats elected to go for a two-point conversion, which junior Ahmad Hudson converted with a catch in the end zone to put Ruston up 8-7.
After a Longview turnover on downs, Ruston marched the ball right back down the field for another 66-yard drive. This time, it was senior Lander Smith scoring from four yards away with 4:33 to go in the first half. Hudson would get another two-point conversion to give Ruston the 16-7 lead of nine points, which was the largest lead of the night for either team.
The Lobos would answer just over a minute later with a four-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 17-yard touchdown run by senior Longview tailback Mason Washington to cut Ruston’s lead to 16-14.
On Ruston’s ensuing possession, Hudson would commit the Bearcats’ only turnover of the night after fumbling a reception, leading to junior defensive back James Pierce grabbing the ball and scoring from 48-yards away to put Longview back on top 21-16 with 2:49 to go in the quarter.
Ruston would answer on the next drive, going 80 yards down the field as Hudson hauled in a 29-yard touchdown reception with 1:12 to go in the second quarter, putting the Bearcats back up 22-21 after failing the two-point conversion.
“Those kind of plays happened during during the ball game,” Baugh said of Hudson’s fumble. “If you’re going to throw it, sometimes some bad things happened, and (Longview) did a great job of trying to strip the ball and picking it up and running it in. And then our offense got back out there, went down the field and scored it. And that’s the way you have to respond. Whenever something bad happens like that does, you need to go back out, flush that and get back to work.”
Following halftime, Ruston got the ball to start the second half and scored with a 74-touchdown reception to Powell for his second score of the night to go up 28-21 with 9:49 to go in the third quarter. The Lobos would respond quickly on the ensuing drive on a 16-yard jet sweep by sophomore Jacaiden Davis with 7:06 to go in the third quarter, tying the game again 28-28.
The Bearcats then strung together a long 11-play, 52-yard drive that took off nearly five minutes of game clock. On fourth-and-goal from the one, Hudson again showed heroics with a touchdown grab with 2:00 to go in the third to put Ruston up 35-28.
Longview would score again to tie the game after getting the ball back in good field position, only needed 37-yards. Junior quarterback Johnny Hamilton would get a one-yard touchdown at the 7:41 mark in the fourth for another tie, 35-35.
Ruston’s offense would be forced to punt, but a nice boot by Ramos pinned the Lobos back to their own nine-yard line to start a potential go-ahead drive. The Bearcats’ defense, however, made a huge stops to hold Longview to a three-and-out, forcing a punt and giving Ruston the ball for the 55-yard drive to end with the game winning field goal.
“They’ve played some really good competition,” Baugh said of Longview. “And you know, sometimes you don’t end up with more points than the other team. But the thing is, they’re getting a lot of really good work out of the ball teams that they’ve played, and they’re going to be better for it in the long run. And just like last year, we were fortunate enough to beat those guys. And then you look up and they’re a field goal away from making it to the state championship in Texas (last year). So I expect for the same thing to happen with those guys. And you know, we’ll be cheering for them. We can do that since they live in another state.”
Powell led all rushers with 169 yards on 28 carries for one touchdown. Junior Sam Hartwell threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns on 13-of-20 passing. Hudson finished with nine catches and 106 yards and two scores, while Powell added 90 yards receiving with a touchdown, as well.
“(Our skill guys) are good enough where people have to alter their game plan to account for the things that they can do,” Baugh said. “Our coaches have done a really good job pinpointing those things. If you’re going to single cover (Ahmad), then you know we’ll throw that. It’s also a running play there if they stretch everybody out of the box, then Sam can keep it. And I think our coaches are doing a really good job, and we have a lot of really good players to cover.”
Senior Ra’Keem Potts had multiple tackles for loss, including a monster sack in the second half on Hamilton.
The Bearcats will return to action Thursday night, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. for a neutral-site contest against Midland Legacy in Alvarado, Texas.
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