Powerful Playoff Performance

Ruston took it to No. 9 Walker and advanced to the Division I Non-select semifinals in a 56- 17 drubbing of the Wildcats on a chilly night at Hoss Garrett Stadium.

And it came from all facets of the game, between Jordan Hayes and Dylone Brooks cutting up field in a dominant run game, Jadon Mayfield and his defensive teammates swarming to the ball and forcing turnovers, or explosive special teams returns, the Bearcats left no doubt on their continued march in the postseason.

Hayes rushed for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns, along with an 80-yard kickoff return touchdown to ice the game early in the fourth. Brooks returned to form in the backfield with 49 rushing yards and 2 scores of his own. That alone was enough to get the job done against the Wildcats, but Ruston’s defense continued to put exclamation points on the win by forcing three turnovers and racking up a pair of sacks.

Mayfield, a Louisiana Tech commit, led the Cats with 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recover, while seemingly running to the ball on every play.

“They put in some stuff that was different and we felt like they would. That’s kind of been their MO all year to give you something you haven’t seen,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “And it took us a while to settle in and did a good job running some clock. I never felt like we were in any danger. I felt really comfortable with the game flow, and I knew if we could extend the lead and get to about a three-score lead that I thought we may have an opportunity to stretch it out.”

The game was close for two minutes of game time in the second quarter when Walker tied the game at 7-7 on a short touchdown run, but on the ensuing drive that’s when Hayes’ big night had its first splash play as the junior burst out of a gap in the line of scrimmage and took off with a clear runway for a 75-yard touchdown to give Ruston a 14-7 lead.

Walker’s following drive, Mayfield recovered a fumble at the Walker 31 to give the offensive unit a chance to pad the lead. The offense obliged with a touchdown six plays later with Brooks scoring a 9-yard touchdown.

From there, Ruston kept control and never looked back, even when Walker cut it to an 11-point lead on two occasions. Each time, Ruston’s top playmakers asserted their dominance and kept the lead at a comfortable distance, including Hayes scoring on a 6-yard toss to make it 28-10 and then his 80yard kickoff return on the very next sequence after Walker cut it to 2817 with 11:46 left in the fourth.

“I feel like I can score anytime I touch the ball. That’s the mindset I have out here,” Hayes said. “We wanted a blowout win. We waited a long time for it, and it happened so I’m proud of my teammates. Happy we came out on top.”

Walker, needing some kind of answer to have one last grasp at a comeback punted on the following drive as Mayfield’s quick release off the line proved to be too much to stop as he ended the drive with a tackle for loss and sack on back-toback plays.

The blowout reached critical mass over the next six minutes as Brooks scored again, followed up by a fumble recovery touchdown for Semaj Jones to make it 4917. Nolan Parnell capped off the final score with a 2-yard touchdown in the final three minutes as the clock began to run.

Earlier in the game, Lander Smith got Ruston on the scoreboard with a 1-yard touchdown as he finished with two carries for 7 yards. The early drive was set up by Ruston senior Nate Johnson’s 30-yard punt return. At quarterback, Josh Brantley finished with 73 rushing yards and 15 passing yards on the night.

But when it comes to describing the weapon that is Hayes, Baugh said all the junior needs is the ball in his hands and execution at all levels. He’ll do the rest.

“It’s a big deal,” Baugh said of Hayes. “Actually had the hands-team out there on the kickoff return but they decided to kick it deep and I thought we’d probably get an onside kick at that point but chose not to do that. And Jordan can just make big plays. You see him tonight he looked really fresh.”

Over his last three games, Hayes has rushed 45 times for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns – an average of 11.5 yards per carry. No. 1 Ruston will host No. 21 Mandeville, who defeated No. 4 Airline 56-50, next week at Hoss Garrett Stadium with a trip to the state championship game on the line.