Cats close out brief homestand

Ruston (1-0), the unanimous No. 1 team in Class 5A entering week two, looks to build off its strong opener against Acadiana with another home game, this time against Cabot, Arkansas (1-1), a familiar foe in recent years.

The original contract between the schools was for home-and-home matchups in 2022 and 2023, but after both contests proved to be competitive, Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh and Cabot head coach Scott Reed opted to continue the contract for another round of games.

Baugh enjoys giving the Bearcats a different look than what they face in- state — providing fans with a showcase of two of the best teams in the Ark-LA-Miss region.

“My plan was to try to keep it going. And I think talking to coach Reed, I think he ended up liking it too. I think it’s been a good game,” Baugh said. “ Every two years, we redo districts. And normally, the high schools, we sign a two-year contract to do a home-and-home exchange. Whenever I got to doing that towards the end of the (2023) season, I talked to him last year about wanting to redo it.

And to me, it’s been a really good game for both of us. I know that’s easy for me to say because we’ve won but it could have gone either way really any of those years.”

Cabot has made the 7A playoffs — the largest classification in Arkansas — the last four seasons and has played the Bearcats tough in two meetings. But the Bearcats have prevailed in both contests, winning 28-17 last year and 17-14 in 2022, dominating defensively in both games. In the previous two games, Cabot’s offense has gone a combined 4-25 on third down and completed just 37% of its pass attempts for 227 yards. The ground game has been Cabot’s biggest success against Ruston, with the Panthers racking up 325 total rushing yards at 4.7 yards per carry between the two games.

Keegan Vest, a senior, led Cabot in the backfield in 2023 with 1,034 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Cabot’s rushing attack is consistent, but its defense continually giving up big plays and even bigger scores is what should give Ruston the clear advantage tonight. Through two games this season, the Panthers have allowed an average of 43 points per game after the unit allowed 25 points per game last season.

And if Josh Brantley’s big game against Acadiana last week was any indication, the Bearcats may have an even tougher offense to stop than last year.

Brantley, a senior verbally committed to Tulane, put up 192 passing yards and 159 rushing yards and 4 total touchdowns in Ruston’s 35-27 win over Acadiana. He connected with new targets Joran Parker (3 catches, 105 yards, 1 TD) and Ahmad Hudson (3 catches, 60 yards, 1 TD) to establish a true passing threat forcing opponents to gameplan.

Keeping Brantley out of harm’s way is a priority, which is why it was cause for concern when senior offensive lineman Sam Nations went down late in the opener with a lower body injury. But Baugh is confident Nations will be able to play tonight and said his role could be within a rotation up front.

“He took a shot on his knee, and it was the same knee he had injured before, and he re- aggravated it. Everything checked out and he’s come along fine,” Baugh said. “His deal is just going to be pain tolerance for him. And it’s going to get reaggravated like that, so it’s a good thing we’ve worked a bunch of guys in different spots on the offensive line. That’s what had to happen the other night with Cedric Rhone ran in there and played well.”

Ruston ( 1- 0) hosts Cabot, Arkansas (1-1), tonight at 7 p.m. at Hoss Garrett Stadium.