Ruston's offense drowns Southside

On a frigid night at Hoss Garrett Stadium, Ruston's offense cut through open waters with ease with little shark activity as the Bearcats cruised to a 49-7 quarterfinal victory over No. 6 Southside to advance to the Division I nonselect semifinals.

Ruston smelled blood in the water from its opening series and made chum of Southside, scoring on its first four drives of the night - putting up 21 points on just 17 plays in the first quarter - before blowing open the contest later on.

"It may have looked that way but I'm not sure how easy it was," Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. "Southside is a really good football team and I think our guys came out ready to play. Kind of jumped on them from the beginning and kind of came unraveled for them. They are a really good football team."

It took Ruston one play to get into Southside territory on its opening drive, setting the tone for the night to come offensively. Ruston capped off its first drive as Josh Brantley completed a dime to fellow senior Joran Parker on 4th and goal for a touchdown to give the Bearcats a 7-0 lead. Southside briefly made it competitive by scoring on its opening drive by catching Ruston off-guard with its option offense to tie it at 7-7

However, the next 28 points came from Ruston thanks to a strong mix of run and pass, led by Brantley with four total touchdowns in the first half and five for the game.

Brantley rushed in a 3-yard TD on Ruston's second drive and then hit Darius James for a 21-yard score on the Bearcats' fourth drive of the night. In between Brantley's scoring spree, Jordan Hayes scored from 3 yards out.

As if the first half wasn't already decided, Southside left no doubt who the victors would be after gaining possession following Ruston's first and only punt of the night. Southside opted for a QB change but it proved costly as Parker Dies' first pass was an interception to Ruston defensive back Jayden Anding to give the Bearcats one more chance to score before halftime.

The Bearcats took advantage and went up four scores as Brantley rushed in for an 8-yard TD run with 19 seconds left in the half.

In two playoff games this year, Brantley has 8 total touchdowns. He finished the game with 158 passing yards and 2 passing TD to go with 37 rushing yards and 3 TD.

"We used Josh quite a bit tonight for that reason and that was one of those deals and we talked about that Sunday in the coaches meeting that that's what we wanted to be able to do," Baugh said of Brantley's run success."

It only got better for Ruston after halftime with Southside turning the ball over on downs, leading to Brantley scoring on the ensuing drive from 5 yards out to make it a 42-7 game.

Aidan Anding joined in on the fun with a 67-yard punt return TD after Southside punted on its second drive of the third, moving Ruston ahead to the eventual 49-7 final.

Ahmad Hudson led Ruston with 2 catches for 52 yards while Darius James had 2 catches for 66 yards.

Dylone had 7 carries for 48 yards. Hayes had 6 carries for 26 yards and 1 TD - exiting with an ankle injury. But Baugh wasn't concerned based on the initial prognosis of Hayes' injury.

"I think we just got a sprained ankle and we'll have to rehab it.

No. 3 Ruston hosts No. 10 Destrehan next Friday in the Division I nonselect semifinals.