Photo Credit: Reggie McLeroy)
WEST MONROE, La. — Underestimate the West Monroe Rebels at your own peril.
While it may not be for the district championship, Ruston High (7-2, 2-2 District 2-5A) will need to get the win tonight to all but assure a first-round bye in the 2024 LHSAA state championship playoffs — and they’ll have to go into Rebel territory to do it, against a West Monroe team (5-4, 2-2 District 2-5A) that will surely be amped up to take on a Ruston team that’s beaten them twice in a row in the regular season.
“They’re really scary offensively, and they’re much improved from last year,” Ruston High head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “Up front on the offensive line, they’ve got big kids that lean on you, and they’re doing a good job of running the football. I think their coaches are doing a good job schematically trying to find things they’re good at. They’ve got a big fullback and a big tailback with receivers that can get to the ball.
“Defensively, it’s the same thing for them: really good up front and their secondary is solid. You just don’t find many holes to poke around. They’re always good defensively, and that hasn’t changed.”
Ruston got back in the win column Friday in a homecoming matchup with the Pineville Rebels, 49-0 at Hoss Garrett Stadium after two straight losses to both Neville and Alexandria Senior High. The starters took care of business so well in the first half that some of the younger players saw meaningful varsity time, including Bearcat freshman running back Dalen Powell, who scored his first touchdown of the 2024 season.
“We did what we were supposed to do,” Baugh said. “I was pleased with our guys from the very beginning of the game. When we went out there, you could tell we were the better team and we took care of our stuff. I talked to them about doing something for our football program and get some younger guys into the ballgame. If you’re able to get into a varsity game — it doesn’t matter what the score is, you’re able to get snaps in on a Friday. That way next year it’s not such a shock on what that looks like. They understood that.”
For the last few years, the district title has come down to Ruston versus West Monroe, but with the addition of Neville and the surging of the ASH Trojans, 2-5A will be decided in Alexandria tonight between the Tigers and the Trojans.
But this game has plenty of postseason implications. Given Ruston’s Herculean strength of schedule, the two losses have not driven the ‘Cats off the power ratings cliff. However, following the forfeit of seven games by University High in Baton Rouge, the power ratings saw a shakeup this week that had Central jump Ruston into the third spot, leaving the Bearcats at No. 4 early on Thursday. (Note: following some Thursday results, the Bearcats are back at No. 3 at 14.50, while Central has dropped to No. 4 at 14.47.)
Right now, this game is practically a must-win to keep Ruston in the top four, which would give the Bearcats a third consecutive first-round bye in the playoffs. Baugh noted that his squad (as most other teams, too) are banged up this time of year, and any thing that can help his players recover in preparation for the postseason is a good thing.
“We needed that help last year (and the year before),” Baugh said of getting a bye. “It’s really beneficial for us health-wise. And you’ll get to work on some things in practice that you don’t have a lot of time to work on if you’re getting ready for (a specific) opponent. We’d be able to work on some situational things and really hone in if we get a bye.”
And for Baugh, the importance of getting a Week 10 win before the playoffs is still just as crucial for the team, regardless of what’s on the line.
“At the end of the day, who wants to lose a ballgame going into the playoffs?” Baugh said in conclusion. “That hasn’t changed for us. You want to try to win every ballgame. Hopefully, we’ve learned the lessons that we needed to get out of those two losses. It’s important to win a ballgame going into the playoffs for some momentum.”
Ruston and West Monroe will kick off tonight at 7 p.m. at Rebel Stadium. Tickets will be sold on the GoFan app for $10. The game will be broadcast on Q94.1 FM and will be livestreamed on BearcatNationNetwork.com.
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