Easy Walk to the semifinals

Ruston took it to No. 9 Walker and advanced to the Division I non select semifinals after a 56-17 drubbing of the Wildcats on a chilly night at Hoss Garrett Stadium.

And it came from all facets of the game, between Jordan Hayes and Dylone Brooks cutting up field in the run game, Jadon Mayfield and his defensive teammates swarming to the ball and forcing turnovers, or explosive special teams returns, the Bearcats left no doubt on their continued march in the postseason.

Hayes rushed for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns, along with an 80-yard kickoff return touchdown to ice the game early in the fourth. Brooks returned to form in the backfield with 49 rushing yards and 2 scores of his own. That alone was enough to get the job done against the Wildcats, but Ruston’s defense continued to put exclamation points on the win by forcing three turnovers and racking up a pair of sacks. Jadon Mayfield, a Louisiana Tech commit, led with 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery

“They put in some stuff that was different and we felt like they would. That’s kind of been their MO all year to give you something you haven’t seen,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said postgame. “And it took us a while to settle in and did a good job running some clock. I never felt like we were in any danger. I felt really comfortable with the game flow, and I knew if we could extend the lead and get to about a three-score lead that I thought we may have an opportunity to stretch it out.”

The game was close for two minutes of game time in the second quarter when Walker tied the game at 7-7 on a short touchdown run, but on the ensuing drive that’s when Hayes’ big night had its first splash play as the junior burst out of a gap in the line of scrimmage and took off with a clear runway for a 75-yard touchdown to give Ruston a 14-7 lead.

Walker’s following drive, Jadon Mayfield recovered a fumble at the Walker 31 to give the offensive unit a chance to pad the lead. The offense obliged with a touchdown six plays later with Dylone Brooks scoring a 9-yard touchdown.

From there, Ruston kept control and never looked back, even when Walker cut it to an 11-point lead on two occasions. Each time, Ruston’s top playmakers asserted their dominance and kept the lead at a comfortable distance, including Hayes scoring on a 6-yard toss to make it 28-10 and then his 80-yard kickoff return on the very next sequence after Walker cut it to 28-17 with 11:46 left in the fourth.

“I feel like I can score anytime I touch the ball. That’s the mindset I have out here,” Hayes said. “We wanted a blowout win. We waited a long time for it, and it happened so I’m proud of my teammates. Happy we came out on top.”

Walker, needing some kind of answer to have one last grasp at a comeback punted on the following drive as Mayfield’s quick release off the line proved to be too much to stop as he ended the drive with a TFL and sack on back-to-back plays.

The blowout reached critical mass over the next six minutes as Brooks scored again, followed up by a fumble recovery touchdown for Semaj Jones to make it 49-17. Nolan Parnell capped off the final score with a 2-yard touchdown in the final three minutes as the clock began to run.

Earlier in the game, Lander Smith got Ruston on the scoreboard with a 1-yard touchdown as he finished with two carries for 7 yards. Josh Brantley finished with 73 rushing yards and 15 passing yards.

When it comes to describing the weapon that is Jordan Hayes, Baugh said all the junior needs is the ball in his hands and execution at all levels. He’ll do the rest.

“It’s a big deal,” Baugh said of Hayes. “Actually had the hands team out there on the kickoff return but they decided to kick it deep and I thought we’d probably get an onside kick at that point but chose not to do that. And Jordan can just make big plays. You see him tonight he looked really fresh. Getting Dylone back helped with that, rotating him in and kept it where he had his legs under him and made some really big plays. I thought our offensive line picked up some things. They juggled their fronts around and I thought for the most part those guys did a good job handling those things and open up some holes. Jordan’s one of those that you give him a little bit of a crease and he can take it to the house.”

Over his last three games, Hayes has rushed 45 times for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns – an average of 11.5 yards per carry.

No. 1 Ruston will host No. 21 Mandeville, who defeated No. 4 Airline 56-50, next week at Hoss Garrett Stadium with a trip to the state championship on the line.