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EAST ASCENSION AT RUSTON ■ TIME: 7 p.m. ■ WHERE: L.J. “Hoss” Garrett Stadium

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Ruston tight end Ray Parker (85) tries to get past a Natchitoches Central defender during last week’s game.

No. 6 Ruston hosts dangerous East Ascension squad Ruston schedule

SEAN ISABELLA SISABELLA@THENEWSSTAR.COM

RUSTON — Ruston's reward for an 8-2 regular season is an opening round playoff date with a team coach Brad Laird doesn't consider a typical 3-6 football squad.

No. 6 Ruston hosts East Ascension in a Class 5A playoff tilt Friday that should favor the Bearcats, but Laird, like most coaches this time of year, is throwing out caution due to the unpredictability of playoff atmospheres.

"What you see from them is continued improvement. You saw that over the last three weeks," Laird said. "It's not a 3-6 team, I can tell you that. It's a team, the way we look at it, they are undefeated, 3-0, in the last three games. You can't look at seeds."

East Ascension needed three wins to end the regular season to even make the playoffs. The Spartans have endured a rough year that started with the tragic floods in Baton Rouge before the season started. The flood canceled East Ascen-

Sept. 2 Neville L 30-14 Sept. 9 at East Feliciana W 45-18 Sept. 16 at Airline W 29-19 Sept. 23 Jonesboro-Hodge W 49-7 Sept. 30 Wossman W 28-0 Oct. 7 at West Monroe L 33-17 Oct. 14 at Pineville W 33-6 Oct. 21 Alexandria W 31-14 Oct. 28 Ouachita W 34-28 Nov. 4 at Natchitoches Central W 34-7 Nov. 11 East Ascension* * Playoffs

sion's season opener against Denham Springs and also affected practice schedules.

East Ascension was 0-6 as of Oct. 14, but the Spartans knocked off Dutchtown, McKinley and Broadmoor, allowing just 13 points in the process.

Laird called Friday's game a strong "first-round matchup," while noting he's glad Ruston is playing at home.

"We secured that opportunity

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throughout what we did in the regular season," Laird said. "Each team is different. Each team got there in a different way. Only seeds matter for home games."

A string of four straight wins, and victories in eight of the last nine contests, got Ruston to this point.

Ruston is hoping to clean up some mistakes that have plagued the Bearcats in the first half of the past two games.

Ruston found itself down 21-7 against Ouachita before winning in overtime.

The Bearcats turned it over three times last week against Natchitoches Central before rolling to a 34-7 win.

"You can't have three turnovers in the first four possessions and move on once you get into the playoffs. You can't have seven penalties in the first half that brought back 120 yards of field position," Laird said. "You can't overcome that, whether they were or they weren't, they got called.

"We did a lot of good things, but they did not result in points because of turnovers and penalties. In order to continue

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to go forward we gotta eliminate those two things."

East Ascension, regardless of record, has talent. The Spartans boast a pair of 6-foot-7 offensive linemen and two 6-6 defensive ends. One of them is Justin Harris, who is committed to Central Florida. Offensive lineman Cameron Wire has offers from schools like Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, Kansas and Iowa State.

Laird expects East Ascension to rotate quarterbacks and make Ruston play in space.

Ruston showed it can air it out last week against Natchitoches Central when quarterback C.J. Willis threw for four touchdowns. With Willis healthy again (he broke his leg early in the year), the Bearcats are playing some of their best football of the year.

"I don't know if anything fazes our guys anymore just because of what happened early in the season as far as injuries," Laird said. "Our guys did a great job of saying, you know what, injuries are injuries."

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Ruston shakes off slow start to win SEAN ISABELLA SISABELLA@THENEWSSTAR.COM

NATCHITOCHES — Almost 24 minutes flew by before the No. 4-ranked team in Class 5A awoke.

Thank C.J. Willis and Tahj Samuel for the lift.

Ruston overcame a slow start to score three touchdowns during a twominute spurt that spanned two quarters to help turn a potential defensive struggle into a 34-7 win over Natchitoches Central in the regular season finale Friday night at Turpin Stadium on the campus of Northwestern State.

Willis accounted for five touchdowns (four passing and one rushing) with four coming in the second half. Samuel, one of the top defensive ends in the area, racked up four sacks to push his total to more than 20 for the season.

“I was really happy with the way we ended the first half. I thought that was huge,” Ruston coach Brad Laird said. “C.J. hadn’t played in seven weeks. So it was him getting the feel of it. We had some opportunities early with field position and we didn’t take advantage of it.”

Ruston (8-2, 4-1 District 2-5A) won its eighth game in the past nine tries and carries a four-game win streak into the playoffs.

The Bearcats totaled 435 yards and held the Chiefs (3-7, 1-4) to just 115.

Willis threw two short touchdowns to tight end Graham Hanes, and he

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Ruston’s Donald Johnson (10) runs with the football against Natchitoches Central on Friday night.

also connected with Devante Jones on an 8-yard score and a 46-yard deep ball to speedy receiver Donald Johnson. Willis finished 16-for-17 passing for 274 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. His favorite receiver was Johnson, who grabbed seven passes for 173 yards.

Ruston overcame five turnovers and a scoreless stretch that last until the final seconds of the opening half.

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“We can’t do that as we move forward in the first round. Luckily we were able to get through it tonight,” Laird said.

Ruston committed three first-half turnovers, all of which ended potential scoring drives. Ruston finally broke through with a second left in the first half on Hanes’ 3-yard touchdown catch.

The second half was much different.

Ruston scored twice on its first four plays of the

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third quarter. A long kickoff return helped set up Johnson’s touchdown pass, and a deflected punt by the special teams unit led to Willis’ 30-yard touchdown scamper to put Ruston up 20-0 two minutes into the second half.

In his first start since breaking his leg in September, Willis rebounded from a few early mistakes. He was picked off twice inside the 40-yard line, once on an out route

at the 37 and a second up the seam inside the 10.

“I started getting my timing back with my receivers and trusting my O-line again,” Willis said.

Regardless of what the scoreboard read at halftime, Ruston was in control of the game from the start. The Bearcats held a 191-68 first-half advantage in total yards.

There were a combined 11 penalties in the game, although it seemed like one was thrown every

other play.

Natchitoches didn’t cross midfield until the 9minute mark of the third quarter. The Chiefs’ scored on a 32-yard touchdown from D.J. Rabb on fourth-and-4 to trim the lead to 20-7 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter.

Samuel led Ruston with seven tackles and the four sacks.

“When I get one I try to do it again and get that energy moving,” Samuel said.

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