Bearcats begin 2-5A wars at Ouachita

After a no-doubt, dominant statement made in non- district play, No. 1 Ruston (5-0) is back in The Boot to open District 2-5A play on the road against Ouachita (3-1) tonight.

The Bearcats, backto- back 2-5A champions, put their full potential on display in last week’s 63-17 win over Stephenville, Texas, outgaining the Yellowjackets 542 to 237, with quarterback Josh Brantley throwing for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns in two and a half quarters before his day was done.

Ahmad Hudson, only a sophomore, had a career-high 112 receiving yards with 2 touchdowns, while Aidan Anding had an 86-yard kickoff return touchdown and an interception. That and more showed some of the best teams in Texas and Louisiana at large that this Ruston team might have more explosiveness than ever. And with a 19-game winning streak to match, it’s approaching the point where you might ask: who can stop the Bearcats but themselves?

But that’s the point Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh has relayed to his team ahead of tonight’s district opener against Ouachita. Have the Bearcats taken care of business so far? You bet. But Baugh isn’t about to let non-district or out- of- state wins dictate how his team approaches the remaining slate, starting tonight against a much- improved Ouachita team.

“Last year, they were young and had some injuries that hurt them pretty bad early on, and they were playing a good schedule. It’s really a flip flop this year where they’ve got experience coming back and it looks like they’ve stayed healthy,” Baugh said of Ouachita. “To me, it looks like a normal Ouachita football team from year’s past where they’ve got a good defense and have some skill guys that can score at any time.”

The Lions took their lumps last year, finishing 3- 8 overall while battling adversity. But through four games this season, Ouachita sits 3-1 and is coming off a big 51-47 win over Franklin Parish last week. As Baugh said, the Lions have talent to account for, especially junior Wydell Clark, who returned two kickoff returns for touchdowns and had a rushing score against Franklin Parish.

How does Ruston plan to deal with a threat like Clark?

“Don’t kick it to him,” Baugh said. “We’ll try to avoid doing that as much as we can. Anytime you have a playmaker like that on the other side, it’s best to avoid giving him chances to handle the ball. And anytime you punt, or kick and you give someone that much space to work with, you’re asking for trouble. So, we’ll have to limit his touches whenever we’re kicking.”

Ruston handled Ouachita last year in a 49-7 win, outgaining the Lions 363 to 84 – averaging 8.4 yards per rush as Brantley and Jordan Hayes combined for 232 yards on just 19 carries. But between last year’s blowout victory, this year’s 5-0 start, along with a massive matchup next week against No. 5 Neville on the mind, Baugh has worked with his team to guard against the idea that tonight is a walk in the park.

Getting up for games hasn’t been a problem for Ruston before, and Baugh expects no issues tonight.

“I don’t think anybody is overlooking Ouachita. They’ve lost one game this year against a good Captain Shreve team – really before they could put things together offensively and defensively,” Baugh said. “I’ve gotten no notion our kids are overlooking them, and I’d be very disappointed during the game if I sense that’s what we’re doing. I haven’t seen that this week, and I think they know because I talk about it enough that they understand we are in no position to overlook anybody, no matter what we did last year or not.”

No. 1 Ruston (5-0) takes on Ouachita (3-1) on the road tonight at 7 p.m.