Ruston visits the Lone Star State

To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.

No. 1 Ruston (2-0) has spent its last 16 games proving it’s the top dog to beat in Louisiana, riding the state’s longest winning streak in what seems to be no hangover from winning last year’s state championship over Zachary.

But now, Ruston will head across state lines to Texas for three straight weeks to see if its statewide dominance can continue, starting tonight at Longview for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff between two of the most consistent programs in their respective states.

“That wasn’t the plan initially,” Baugh said of the extended Texas trip. “But when you’re trying to schedule games, you just do whatever you can to find a game. I didn’t want to end up with a week where we didn’t play, and we try to find as good of competition as we can.

“This stretch of road games for us is going to be a tough deal, and I told our kids after the Cabot game even if you’re a really good football team, going on the road four weeks in a row and playing the competition that we’ve got lined up, that’s going to be tough in itself. We’ll see how we handle that,” he added.

Out-of-state matchups are nothing new for Ruston and Baugh, just coming off a 49-10 win in a long-running Cabot series, but three road games in one of the deepest states for high school football talent is a different story altogether. And after spending a decade coaching at Longview, Baugh knows his Bearcats will be in for a fight at the Lobos’ house.

Longview has a stout defense, allowing opponents to average just 18 points per game this season after opponents managed just 11.7 points per game in 2023. Longview (2-1) has gone 25-3 over the previous two seasons in Class 6A and has talent at top positions just like Ruston.

Baugh expects the Lobos to come ready to prove themselves after losing 45- 44 at home last week one of the best teams in the Dallas Metroplex, South Oak Cliff.

“It’s more of the same. Even when I was there back in the 2000s we were really good defensively,” Baugh said of Longview. “The defensive coordinator is the same whenever I was there. They do a really good job getting the kids prepared. They did give up a lot of points against South Oak Cliff, but that is the most points they’ve ever given up in that stadium. So, I don’t expect that to be something they want to continue. They’re in a building process of trying to figure out which guys play where kind of like us, and we’ve seen a lot of rotations at several positions. I know they’ll be a much- improved team from last week.”

Longview’s top players include inside linebacker Brenden Reese, who holds offers from Texas State, North Texas, and UTEP, among others. He has 19 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, and a sack through three games. Fellow linebacker Kason Brooks has 40 tackles and 5 tackles for loss, while Isaiah Horton has 18 tackles, 3 sacks, and 3 tackles for loss.

Offensively, Maverick Rowe leads the Lobos at quarterback with 349 passing yards, 5 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions this season.

But Ruston has its own playmaker at quarterback to account for in senior Josh Brantley, who is expected to return to action tonight after sitting out Ruston’s win over Cabot due to an ankle injury.

Brantley, a Tulane commit, had 191 passing yards and 168 rushing yards with 4 total touchdowns in the Bearcats’ opener against Acadiana.

“Our expectation is he’ll be out there Friday,” Baugh said. “From what I saw, I feel good about it.”

Longview is 7-4 in the all-time series against the Bearcats, with the last meeting coming in 2018 at Hoss Garrett Stadium. Longview has won the last three meetings and began its 2024 season with victories on the road against Lufkin and Marshall.

No. 1 Ruston (2-0) faces Longview, Texas (2-1), tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Lobo Stadium.