Ruston High captures first LHSAA state title in 33 years; tops Zachary
NEW ORLEANS — They’ll be celebrating long into the night and well into Sunday in the Lincoln Parish enclave of Ruston after their favorite high school sports team, the Bearcats, won their first LHSAA state football title in more than three decades, topping Zachary 31-17 on Saturday.
A fourth down stand at the Ruston 4-yard-line with about seven minutes to play by the Bearcats’ vaunted defense sealed the deal. Ruston’s 5-foot-11 safety Nate Johnson won a battle with 6-6 Trey’Dez Green, an LSU commitment, in the corner of the end zone to stop the threat.
Longtime football official Phil Gordan, who played at Ruston High in the mid-1970s, was in the Caesars Superdome Saturday evening watching his Bearcats battle Zachary for the LHSAA Non-Select Division I state football title for a second consecutive season.
Officiating football, basketball and baseball for 38 years has given Gordan some unique insight into how the game has been altered over the four decades. But one thing that hasn’t changed is what it means to win a state title at the highest level, especially after waiting for more than three decades like the Bearcats.
The Bearcats (14-0) finished what they started going wire-to-wire to complete a perfect season by holding off the Broncos (12-2) in the LHSAA Prep Classic’s signature event.
The title game was marred by far too many lengthy play reviews that derailed momentum for both teams.
Ruston had trouble covering Green, but Ruston quarterback Josh Brantley had one of the best games of his career. The junior rushed for 134 yards and passed for 194 while scoring three times on runs of 3, 9 and 24 yards.
The defense was led by the dynamic Jadon Mayfield, a Louisiana Tech commit, who was all over the field compiling 12 tackles and recording two and a half sacks.
The Bearcats broke a 10-10 halftime lock on their first series of the second half when Brantley scored on a 3-yard run. But the Broncos answered on their ensuing drive with a 6-yard TD pass. The first half was a battle of wills between two teams that met in the state semifinals last season. Both squads are loaded with Division I talent, especially on defense and it showed.
Two field goals, including one by Ruston that hit the crossbar and bounded through and a couple of opportunistic special teams plays was all either squad could muster in the first half. A bad snap on a punt by Ruston set the Broncos up at the 3-yard line and they scored in two plays.
Less than two minutes before halftime, Ruston’s Aiden Anding returned a Zachary punt 54 yards to tie the game at 10 at intermission.
The Bearcats had to navigate several close shaves to complete a perfect season. On successive Friday nights, they escaped Lafayette Christian (29-26), Neville (14-0) and Alexandria (35-28). The ‘Cats closed the regular season with a 35-28 win versus archrival West Monroe.
After spending two days in New Orleans last year before that title game, coach Jerrod Baugh took a different tactic this year. He had the team make the entire trip down on Saturday arriving at the arena a couple hours before their game. That appeared to work. Ruston won its first crown in 1925 and the last of eight in 1990.
Over the last eight games, the Bearcats were scoring nearly 40 points per game while allowing 14. That’s a big reason why they earned a No. 1 seed and earned the school’s ninth state title.
Jimmy Watson covers Louisiana sports for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Ruston High captures first LHSAA state title in 33 years; tops Zachary
