Bearcats return valuable special teamers

When Ruston won its first state championship in 33 years back in December, attention was given to the flashy playmakers.

The quarterback, linebackers, and defensive ends dominated postgame reactions after the Bearcats’ historic victory. It comes with the territory. Josh Brantley put up nearly 400 yards of offense and 3 touchdowns. Aidan Anding returned a punt for a score, and Jadon Mayfield gave one last performance to marvel.

But lost in the noise was Jack Elliot, then a junior for the Bearcats, who stepped in for his first varsity field goal attempt inside the Superdome. No pressure. He’d go on to knock the 27- yard kick through and give the Bearcats their first three points and lead en route to an eventual 31-17 win.

Now, with the dust settled and the Bearcats looking to repeat as champions in 2024, Elliot is back for his senior season to take over main PAT and field goal duties in place of graduated senior Will Fendley.

And for as much talk as there’s been with Ruston’s losses at defensive end, safety, and linebacker, head coach Jerrod Baugh knows a replacement for Fendley will also be a tall task.

But so far, Baugh has liked what he’s seen from the special teamers.

“I think he’s done well with our PAT, field goal stuff,” Baugh said of Elliot. "We haven’t run any kickoff drills yet. They’re going to have to pick up some slack from where Will left off. I think they’re going to be fine. I don’t know who’s going to end up doing what, but I think they’ve gotten out here and worked. Coach ( Colt) Dunbar does a good job working them.”

Fendley was a second team all- district punter last season with 40 punts for 1,322 yards (33.05 average) and attempted five of the team’s six field goals during the season. He also attempted 56 of the team’s 64 PAT, making 53 of his 56 tries. Elliot, meanwhile, went 6-of-7 on PATs in his limited attempts in 2023.

The scoring tasks on special teams will now be in Elliot’s hands — or leg, if you will.

Elliot and Joaquin Ramos, a sophomore, will split time early on between kickoff and punting duties as well.

“He ( Joaquin) and Jack will probably share some of that early on and we’ll see how that goes. But probably Joaquin will be back doing that,” Baugh said “And like I said, Jack has done a good job on PAT and fields goals. Cade Kelly has been punting for us too.”

In the return game, Anding and Jordan Hayes are expected to remain in their respective roles as punt and kickoff returner, respectively.

“I would imagine that’s the direction we’ll go with that, particularly under stressful situations against good football teams,” Baugh said.

“We’re going to try to limit Aidan some on his special teams stuff. Last year, he did a lot for us on kickoff team. He was on punt team too. We’re going to try to limit some of that because we’re going to try and use him a little more on offense. But we don’t want to wear him down to where he’s not effective doing what it is he can do. But I think when it boils down to it, we need something big in those spots. That’s a great option.”

Hayes had nine kickoff returns for 211 yards and a touchdown last year, while Anding had nine returns for 205 yards and a touchdown.