Bearcat defense is dominating

It can be easy to watch No. 1 Ruston’s high-powered offense score 63 points on Saturday against a good Stephenville, Texas, program and think to yourself the unit is the strength of the Bearcats.

Big numbers, big touchdowns, and All-State caliber athletes leading an offense averaging 41.2 ppg are worth your attention. But under the radar beyond the gaudy box scores is a Ruston defense flat-out putting its foot down on opponents.

It’s not a total surprise that defensive coordinator Kyle Williams is at again, leading his alma mater to another disruptive defense. Ruston has shown in recent years it can stand tall in big moments, get after quarterbacks, take the ball away, and get off the field efficiently. But this year, some thought the unit might be in for a slight regression given the loss of multi-year starters on the defensive line, at linebacker, and in the secondary. Nice try. Ruston’s defense certainly isn’t slowing down so far.

The Bearcats have held opponents to average just 14 ppg this year, while limiting them to a 31.37% (16-51) third down conversion rate. And as games go on, Ruston’s defense gets better. Through five games, Ruston has allowed just 16 total points and a single touchdown in the second half – holding opponents to a 3.2 ppg average over the final two quarters of each contest.

Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh credits the second half shutdowns to a veteran coaching staff putting players in position to win matchups.

“I think our coaches do a really good job of seeing what it is they’re trying to do to us in the first half and we go in and talk about those things,” Baugh said after Saturday’s win over Stephenville. “We held them to a field goal on a really good drive, and then you cut it off and they only get a field goal out of it. I think that’s an indication our guys are growing up pretty quickly.”

Ruston’s defense showed its grit on Saturday by holding a Stephenville offense that came in averaging 45.8 ppg to only 17 points – with one touchdown ‘ drive’ starting inside the 20 after a muffed punt by Ruston’s special teams. Stephenville quarterback Ryan Gafford came into Saturday’s game with 15 touchdowns and no interceptions. Even he was brought back down to Earth, finishing with 172 yards and 1 touchdown, while throwing interceptions to Aidan Anding and Terry Lewis.

“Whenever you’re playing the people that we play, you have to grow up quickly or it ain’t going to go good,” Baugh said. “Our guys have done that. It’s a good feeling to have going into district with that.”

Ruston’s top performers on defense through five games include senior linebacker Zheric Hill (46 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 3 sacks, 2 INT, 1 pick six), Aidan Anding (17 tackles, 2 INT, 1 FR, 1 PBU), his brother Jayden Anding (8 tackles, 3 INT, 2 PBU), along with linebacker Zander Hayes ( 19 tackles, 1 sack, 1 PBU), and Trindon Moore (17 tackles, 1 sack, 1 PBU).

Ruston will need its defense to continue playing at this level as the Bearcats enter district play, starting with Ouachita on Friday. Baugh expects the unit to improve and come ready to play fast against the Lions after showing its potential in an unblemished nondistrict slate.

“It’s been very productive for a lot of the reasons I talked about,” Baugh said of the 5-0 start. “Whenever you’re playing some really good competition, it puts a magnifying glass on the things that you need to do to continue to improve.

“And we stay on our guys about that, regardless of whether you come out with more points on the scoreboard or not. It’s something we need to be able to continue to do. The score’s not going to get out of whack like this. You’re not going to make those big plays sometimes and it’s going to turn into a fight. We’ve gotta be able to manage that whenever that happens.”

No. 1 Ruston (5-0) takes on the Ouachita Parish Lions (3-1) on the road Friday to open District 2-5A play.

Ruston held the Lions to 7 points last year.