All Ruston Daily Leader Coach & Newcomer

This shouldn’t be too surprising.

After months of delivering the mission to his team of returning to the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans and capturing a state championship, avenging last year’s heartbreak, Ruston head football coach Jerrod Baugh brought the Bearcats back on top of the north Louisiana football world and stamped his legacy as one of the best coaches to walk the sidelines at Hoss Garrett Stadium.

A perfect 14-0 record — the school’s first undefeated season since 1990. Two-straight District 2-5A titles, and two wins over West Monroe — feats not done since the 1990s. Back-to-back trips to the state championship — never been done in school history until 2023. And of course, the program’s ninth state title — the first for the Class 5A powerhouse since 1990.

Along the way Baugh became just the fourth coach in RHS history to bring home a championship.

Baugh’s accomplishments and ability to live up to expectations earned him All Ruston Daily Leader Coach of the Year for the second season in a row.

“I appreciate and am honored by the recognition that I receive, but I think everyone knows or should know that it’s a combination of the coaching staff and the players we have that makes any of it possible,” Baugh said. “I thank God for giving me the opportunity to work with them.”

Over the last two seasons, Baugh has led the Bearcats to a 26-2 overall record and gone through a gauntlet of a schedule to get there. That followed a stretch of four straight trips to the quarterfinals before breaking through in 2022.

This year, Ruston defeated six top 20 teams across the state, including No. 2 Neville, No. 3 Lafayette Christian, No. 9 Walker, No. 16 Westgate, No. 16 Jesuit, and finally No. 6 Zachary in the state championship. Three of those wins, including the Bearcats’ 31-17 win over Zachary, were by double-digits.

Baugh may be one to push off credit for himself, but he had plenty to say about his quarterback Josh Brantley — the All Ruston Daily Leader Newcomer of the Year.

Everyone knew Brantley would take over the reins of the offense from Jaden Osborne this offseason, but many, including Baugh and the coaching staff, didn’t know what it would look like.

After all, learning on the fly, especially at the 5A level, can take time. It wasn’t expected to be an overnight transition.

The first big sign of Brantley’s development came against Neville on Sept. 29, as he rushed for 146 yards and a pair of scores in leading the Cats to a come-from-behind 1410 win on the road at a tough venue.

And once Brantley found his groove in the offense, he never looked back, delivering big performances for the Bearcats over the final two months of the season. Overall, Brantley completed 80 of his 150 pass attempts for 1,175 yards and 9 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. And if that wasn’t enough, he added 148 carries for 866 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground – including a career-best performance of 328 total yards of offense and 3 touchdowns in the state championship game. It was his performance as Outstanding Player that allowed Ruston to handle Zachary’s game plan of shutting down running back Jordan Hayes.

His last play of his junior season may have been the best. With Ruston leading 24-17 late in the fourth quarter in Zachary territory — on fourth down — Brantley executed a perfect bootleg for a 24- yard touchdown to secure the state title.

He earned first team 2-5A All-District honors after his breakout season and will be the Bearcats’ starting quarterback in 2024, looking to bring home another state title.

“I think Josh is very deserving of that award for sure,” Baugh said. “Anyone that watched the state championship game saw what he is capable of doing. I know he will continue to work to improve and look forward to seeing what that looks like. We are very proud for him.”