by Malcolm Butler
Jerrod Baugh didn’t mince words during his post-game radio interview following No. 1 ranked Ruston’s 22-21 win over Ouachita.
“(Ouachita) probably deserved to win the ballgame, to be honest,” said the Bearcat Boss
He wasn’t lying.
Coming off one of its most impressive, complete performances during its active 20-game winning streak with a 63-17 victory over Stephenville (Texas) last Saturday, the Bearcats came back in-state and played uninspired against the Lions.
A bit of a stinker.
But, they won.
Ruston looked flat throughout the night. A little lethargic. A step slow.
And it almost cost them.
When you are ranked No. 1 in the state and are the defending state champion boasting a 20-game winning streak, you have a bullseye on your back each and every week.
The Bearcats are going to get everyone’s best effort, and Ouachita is no slouch.
Honestly, no team in District 2-5A will be this year and competition each Friday night for the rest of the regular season will come against a playoff caliber team. Neville. Alexandria Senior High. West Monroe. Even Pineville.
But last night the Bearcats didn’t bring their A-game.
“I need to do a better job getting our guys ready to play,” said Baugh.
Baugh talked about how the Bearcats had a good week of practice, but then questioned their mentality heading into the contest.
“You can spoil a good week of practice because you aren’t mentally ready to play …,” said Baugh. “I think (our guys) listen to a lot of the things … in Texas three weeks in a row and everybody is talking about all this stuff. I think we were a little too comfortable coming into this ballgame.”
Whatever the case, the Bearcats didn’t look like the Bearcats we have seen through the first five weeks of the season. And Baugh agreed, but was quick to give the opponent its due.
“Ouachita is a really good football team,” he said.
The Lions are. But the Bearcats are better. More than one missed extra point better.
Offensively, the normally run-heavy scheme turned to the air more than usual. The Lions loaded the box time after time, but despite that, Ruston still ran for almost five yards per attempt (26 for 127 yards).
However, Ruston threw 22 passes in the game as Brantley connected on 11 for 173 yards, including a 55-yard TD pass to Ahmad Hudson on the first offensive possession to give the Bearcats an early 8-0 lead. But then Ruston went silent for the rest of the first half.
“We are not doing a very good job of if we score on the first possession of backing that up and making some positive things happen,” said Baugh. “I don’t know if the guys think it’s going to be easy?”
It allowed Ouachita to stay in the game.
After the Lions tied the game at 8-8 on a 73-yard swing pass that turned into paydirt in the third quarter, Ruston responded with back-to-back TD drives capped by Brantley TD runs of 1 and 14 yards.
The Bearcats took a 22-8 lead into the fourth quarter and appeared poised to run some clock and put the game out of reach, driving inside the Ouachita 40-yard line. However, instead of turning to the run game with Jordan Hayes and Dylone Brooks and Brantley, the Bearcats called pass plays.
Brantley misfired on a pair of long pass attempts and then on a third down play, he threw an interception that was returned into Ruston territory.
It wasn’t the traditional ground and pound and run the clock type of attack in the fourth quarter that we have become accustomed to seeing Ruston utilize over the past few years, especially with a two touchdown lead. And it almost backfired.
“Not being able to handle those big guys inside, I knew that was going to limit the running game,” said Baugh. “We liked what we were getting in the secondary from those guys.”
Ouachita scored after the interception return and then drove 80 yards in less than three minutes to score again with 31 seconds to play. If the Lions hadn’t gotten called for an illegal motion penalty, they were going to go for two and the win following the 11th hour TD.
Instead they were forced to attempt the game-tying extra point … and inexplicably missed.
Ruston isn’t going to play an almost-perfect game each week like they accomplished in Texas against Stephenville. And one could argue that the Bearcats were due for a letdown game. After all, it was the fourth straight week on the road, something that can’t be taken lightly.
Whatever the case, the Bearcats simply weren’t themselves Friday night.
The silver lining is Ruston played poorly and at times uninspired and yet they still found a way to escape with a win on the road in a District 2-5A match-up against a talented Ouachita team.
And rest assured that Jerrod Baugh and this Bearcat coaching staff will get their attention this next week in practice.
If I were a betting man, the Bearcats will bring their A-game Friday night when they return to James Field at Hoss Garrett Stadium to face one of their oldest rivals in undefeated Neville.
If they don’t, they may not get as lucky.
