By Bret H. McCormick

NEW ORLEANS – Ruston put the ball in the hands of its superstar late in Saturday’s Division I Non-Select showdown against Ouachita.

And like he had done several times earlier in the game, Ahmad Hudson weaved his way through, around and over multiple Lion defenders as he picked up key yards after the catch into the red zone.

As Hudson neared the sideline, one of Ouachita’s stars, Wydell Clark Jr. – perhaps the biggest star in a game full of them on Saturday – poked the ball out of Hudson’s left arm from behind. Ouachita’s Dylan Johnson pounced on the football, allowing the Lions to hold onto a 21-20 victory over their District 2-5A rival and claim their first state championship since 1989.

Ruston drew up a reverse pass on fourth down as junior receiver Josiah Morgan found a wide-open Hudson near midfield. Hudson, who led all receivers with six catches for 169 yards and a score, used his speed, power and elusiveness to evade defenders, at one point turning around and running backward as he delivered a stiff-arm to a Lion defender, before Clark tracked him down and forced the fumble.

Clark’s heroics, however, didn’t clinch the game for Ouachita. Before the clock struck zero, the Lions (11-4) had to survive the final 81 seconds. The Bearcats used their timeouts to get a defensive stop and force a punt, taking over at their own 20 with 46 seconds remaining, needing a field goal to win.

Junior quarterback Sam Hartwell completed four passes, including three to Morgan, to get the ball into Ouachita territory and give junior kicker Joaquin Ramos a chance to win the game.

But the 52-yard field goal attempt came up just a couple of yards short, landing in the back of the end zone, and sending the Lions into a frenzied celebration as they capped a remarkable turnaround from a four-game losing streak and fifth-place district finish to a six-game winning streak and a state championship.

The Bearcats (11-3) finished as state runner-up for the second straight season and third time in four years.

Baugh said bringing the runner-up trophy home to Ruston is “getting old.”

“I hate it for these kids,” Baugh said. “That’s really the worst thing for me is you talk kids into doing whatever it is you’re asking them to do, and these kids have lined up and done that, and then you want to be able to provide them the happiness that you see on the other sideline. I want to be able to do that. I want them to experience that.”

Ruston jumped on top 14-0 on Hartwell’s 4-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter and a 59-yard TD pass from Hartwell to Hudson, who broke free of a would-be tackler and raced down the sideline for the score.

But as they had done throughout the playoffs, the Lions battled through adversity, cutting Ruston’s lead in half in the second quarter on a 27-yard TD run by Macario Dade.

The Bearcats boosted their lead to 17-7 on a 37-yard field goal by Ramos late in the second quarter, but Ouachita’s defense stiffened in the second half, holding Ruston to just three points after halftime.

Baugh said the Lions featured a “really, really good” defense, and that showed after the Bearcats’ fast start offensively.

“I knew they were gonna buckle down and get after it,” he said.

Dade’s second touchdown run of the game, a 3-yarder with 3:33 left in the third quarter, cut the Bearcats’ lead to just three points, and Ramos’ field goal with 46 seconds left in the quarter gave Ruston a 20-14 lead.

That set up a fourth quarter for the ages for Clark and the Lions.

Clark gave Ouachita its first lead of the game with 6:41 left in the game on a 30-yard touchdown reception from Montrell Conner, going up to grab the ball near the front pylon of the end zone and pinning it against his helmet. But that spectacular catch was only the second-most important play of the quarter for Clark as the two-way star forced the Hudson fumble to thwart a potential game-winning drive for the Bearcats.

Clark said he noticed that Hudson wasn’t carrying the ball particularly close to his body and that he might be able to knock the ball loose, so he chased the Bearcats’ star junior tight end down from behind and did just that.

“I’m like, ‘I know I can catch him, but what am I gonna do when I catch him?’” Clark recalled thinking to himself during the play. “When I caught him, I just reached for the ball, and the next thing I saw was my teammate falling on the ball.”

Baugh said neither Hudson’s fumble nor the Ramos missed field goal cost the Bearcats the game. He said his team made multiple mistakes during the game and that Ouachita made some big plays as well.

“We made some plays to get it down there and have an opportunity to kick the field goal,” Baugh said. “You really can’t ask your team to do more than that.”

The two teams matched each other nearly yard for yard offensively with the Bearcats compiling 367 yards of offense (227 passing and 140 on the ground) and Ouachita putting up 369 yards.

Hartwell completed 10 of 14 passes for 184 yards and led the Bearcats with 71 rushing yards. Junior Kohl Gray added 69 rushing yards for Ruston.

Ouachita was led by Dade’s 147 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Conner finished 11-for-17 passing for 184 yards while adding 55 rushing yards. Clark caught four passes for 108 yards and the touchdown.

With the two teams being so close statistically, the game came down to one team making one more clutch play than the other.

“It just didn’t work out like we wanted it to,” Hudson said.

“I’m very proud of this football team,” said Baugh, adding that not many expected the Bearcats to be back in the Superdome for a fourth straight year after replacing such a large graduating class. “As always, win or lose, a football game doesn’t define you as a person or how good of a football team you are.”

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