RUSTON – It wasn’t the start coach Thomas Bachman or his players dreamed about Friday night.
On the road, against the No. 2-ranked team in Class 5A, needing a victory to stay in the chase for the District 2-5A title.
Early in the second quarter, Alexandria was staring at a 21-3 deficit against Ruston, having given up touchdowns on the Bearcats’ first three drives of the game.
But the Trojans weathered the early storm, ripping off 31 consecutive points and outscoring Ruston 42-7 over the game’s final 30-plus minutes to rally for a 45-28 victory, a win that kept them in the District 2-5A race as they look to defend their district championship from a year ago.
Junior safety Letravious Williams said the Trojans never panicked Friday night, and that begins with the preparation they put in during the week leading up to the game.
“Every day at practice, we deal with a lot of adversity,” he said. “Just staying calm in the storm, and it helped us in the long run.”
The game flipped in the final two minutes of the first half.
The Trojans (7-1, 2-1) finally got in the end zone on their fourth possession of the game when junior quarterback Karsen Sellers threw the first of his four touchdown passes in the game, connecting with junior Ja’Kyrin Griffin on a wheel route out of the backfield for a 32-yard TD that cut Ruston’s lead to 21-10.
After looking shaky in the early goings, the ASH defense stiffened with consecutive three-and-outs to set up the Trojans’ second touchdown, as Sellers connected with a diving Alex Fontenot at the goal line for a 40-yard score that cut the deficit to four with just over a minute left in the first half.
Two plays later, sophomore safety Raymond Harris made an acrobatic interception near midfield and returned it more than 30 yards to set the Trojans up near the red zone.
“That was big,” Williams said of the Harris interception. “It gave us a lot of momentum going forward. It got the offense going. They went and punched it in, and it was just up from there.”
Sellers found sophomore running back Kason Williams for his third touchdown pass of the half on the next play, as Williams took a screen pass 21 yards into the end zone with nine seconds remaining before halftime, leaving the red-and-white-clad Bearcat faithful at L.J. “Hoss” Garrett Stadium in stunned silence.
The second half featured near-complete dominance by the Trojans’ offensive line and sophomore backfield duo of Kason Williams and Noble Williams. ASH controlled the clock, ripping off 189 yards on four straight scoring possessions, all but 6 of which came on the ground.
ASH took a 27-21 lead on the first possession of the second half following Eli Fung’s 30-yard field goal, the second of three in the game for the Trojans’ junior kicker.
Letravious Williams then blocked his fourth punt of the season, setting up the Trojans with a short field.
“It’s all about the big plays,” Letravious Williams said. “Special teams plays a big role in these tough ball games. Being able to get that big play at the time felt good.”
Six plays later, Sellers tossed his fourth TD pass of the game, a 6-yarder to senior tight end Grayson Thibodeaux that gave ASH a 34-21 lead.
Ruston (6-2, 2-1) finally ended the Trojans’ run of 31 consecutive points, answering with an 80-yard drive that culminated in a Dalen Powell 9-yard TD run that cut ASH’s lead to one score.
Powell, the Bearcats’ speedy sophomore running back, rushed for 146 yards and three touchdowns.
Leading by just six, the Trojans again turned to their sophomore backfield duo, relying on tosses to the short side of the field and powerful runs up the middle against an undersized Bearcat defensive front.
They grinded out 80 yards on 13 plays, all of them on the ground, before Noble Williams finished the drive with a 1-yard scoring plunge for a 42-28 Trojan lead. After missing the team’s three previous games following thumb surgery, Noble Williams finished with 67 rushing yards and one TD on 17 carries.
“I was supposed to be gone for four to six weeks, and I came back a week early,” Noble Williams said. “Just getting back on the field, not practicing in three to four weeks, making plays and coming back and winning the game, it felt amazing. I want to give glory to God.”
The Williams duo combined for 53 carries and 286 rushing yards, as Kason Williams rushed for a career-high 219 yards on 36 carries, adding two receptions for 31 yards and a score.
Noble Williams said the Trojans could tell that their ground game was wearing down the Bearcats’ defense.
“We kind of saw them get a little tired, getting a little soft in their emotions,” he said. “We took advantage of that, and we kept punching the ball in.”
Said Ruston coach Jerrod Baugh: “They gave us a dose of what it is we’re normally known for, being able to hold onto the football and run it down somebody’s throat. We can’t, and they could. And they showed us what it was about.”
After a fourth-down sack by senior linebacker Xzavier White, the Trojans continued milking the clock and finished off the scoring with a 21-yard Fung field goal.
During the 31-point scoring run, the ASH defense held the Bearcats to just 29 yards over five possessions, and the Trojans kept star tight end Ahmad Hudson in check most of the night, limiting him to just five catches and 58 yards.
Sellers finished the game 8-of-11 passing for 113 yards and four touchdowns, while Fontenot was the Trojans’ leading receiver with four catches for 44 yards and his 13th receiving TD of the season.