All Ruston Daily Leader Offense

Ruston’s third straight run to the Caesars Superdome this fall was spearheaded by two-way threat Josh Brantley, the Bearcats’ dynamic senior quarterback.

After improving in nearly all offensive statistics this year from his breakout junior season, it shouldn’t come as a surprise Brantley has earned the honor of All Ruston Daily Leader Offensive Player of the Year for his consistent play and undeniable athleticism.

He completed 64.3% of his passes for 1,732 yards, 17 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions to go with 748 rushing yards and 15 rushing scores, putting him at 32 total TDs on the season.

The standout moments of his senior year include throwing for a career-high 251 yards against Stephenville, Texas, and accounting for 359 yards and 4 total touchdowns in the Bearcats’ season opener against Acadiana. In Ruston’s four playoff games this year, he also accounted for 10 total touchdowns.

This season, he accounted for the most total touchdowns of any quarterback at RHS since Jerrod Baugh became head coach in 2017. In two years as Ruston’s starting quarterback, Brantley amassed 52 total touchdowns and 4,521 scrimmage yards.

“I’m very grateful for this honor and just know it did not come easy,” Brantley said. “I wanted to prove to myself that I could do what it takes to win ball games. I knew we would have a rough schedule and I felt as if I needed to match the intensity of our opponents.”

Brantley improved his passing yardage total by 557 yards, improved his touchdown passes total by eight, improved in rushing TD from 11 to 15, and had fewer interceptions, despite more attempts, than last year As far as what he’ll remember most in leading Ruston to an 11-3 finish and a third straight trip to the Dome, Brantley said, “The adversity. Nothing we achieved came easy, and every single person on the team knew what we had to do to achieve our goals.”

Brantley is far from the only Bearcat on the All-RDL Offense as his teammates Joran Parker, Darius James, Jordan Hayes, Dylone Brooks, Ahmad Hudson, Sam Nations, Cam Venzant, Brooks Brown, and Jack Elliot earned a spot at their respective positions.

Parker and James were Ruston’s top wide receivers, with the duo combining for 8 TD and over 700 yards.

Hudson shined in his role at tight end for the Bearcats with 6 TD catches and over 750 receiving yards. Hayes and Brooks combined for 25 rushing TD and 2,044 yards as the one-two punch in Ruston’s backfield. The duo got easy rush lanes thanks to the blocking of Nations, Venzant, and Brown on the offensive line for Ruston. Elliot, Ruston’s primary kicker this fall, went 64 of 65 on PAT and 3-of-3 on field goal attempts.

Lincoln Prep’s three best offensive players, Cenario Wilson, D’Tavion Wright, and Jakobe Jones, earned their way onto the team as well after leading the Panthers to a turnaround season of seven wins. Wright led Prep with 1,068 rushing yards and 14 TD while Wilson had 6 total scores on offense with 284 offensive scrimmage yards on under 20 touches. Jones, Prep’s First Team All- District offensive lineman, helped the Panthers’ ground game find success all year.

Cedar Creek offensive lineman Bryce Martin and offensive athlete James Myers earned spots on the team as well as productive pieces to a young Cougar program.

Myers did it all for Creek this fall, amassing a team-best 392 rushing yards at 5.9 yards per carry and 4 TD to go with 11 catches for 147 yards and 2 TD at wideout.