NEW ORLEANS — Ruston missed out on opportunities against two-time defending Division I select champion Edna Karr at the Caesars Superdome.
The clash between No. 1 and No. 2 in Class 5A lived up to the billing. After Karr scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, Ruston countered with two touchdowns from junior Dalen Powell. The score was deadlocked at 14 for much of the game until the Cougars scored the go-ahead touchdown with nine minutes left in the contest.
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The Bearcats swung momentum on their side late and had a chance to win the game in regulation. Karr botched a punt after going into victory formation, and Ruston possessed the ball deep into Cougars territory. But senior Sam Hartwell’s pass to the endzone fell incomplete as time ran out.
The Cougars extended their win streak to 30 games after defeating the Bearcats 21-14 on Saturday, Sept. 19.
One of Ruston’s biggest plays against Karr was senior Joaquin Ramos’ fake punt during the first drive of the second half. Yet, the Bearcats couldn’t cash in on the trick play and fizzled out.
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“You can’t do that against good football teams like (Karr),” Ruston coach Jerrod Baugh said. “That’s one of the things we’ve got to work on. We’re so inconsistent offensively and defensively. You look out there and see a really good football team, and then you’ll look out there and it looks like we never played before. That’s part of growing up.”
Ruston and Karr’s defenses stood out in the Superdome, from the Cougars intercepting Hartwell during the Bearcats’ opening drive to Ruston denying Karr of the endzone on fourth-and-goal in the second half. Seniors Ahmad Hudson and Josiah Morgan continued making an impact in Ruston’s offense.
The Bearcats know a Cougars loss isn’t going to make or break their 2026 season. Ruston went toe-to-toe with one of the country’s best teams, and it looks forward to the opportunity of hosting Catholic-B.R., who Karr defeated by seven points in last fall’s D-I select semifinals, in Week 4.
“At the end of the day, this is a Week 3 ball game,” Baugh said. “If we go down and we managed to throw the ball in the endzone and go for two and win, that doesn’t change anything that happened previously in the ball game. We’ve still got to make those corrections and do what we need to do to move on.”
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Said Powell earlier in the week, “The (Catholic) game is just as important (as the Karr game). Another good team is coming down to Ruston. We have to get our minds right and prepare for that.”
Ruston’s community showed out once again at the Superdome following four consecutive trips to the D-I nonselect championships. Losing to Karr is a tough pill to swallow, but the Bearcats hope the tough competition it continues to face moving forward will propel them to another title run.
“(The community loves) to find any excuse to come to New Orleans,” Baugh said. “They love the Bearcats, and we sure do appreciate the people that made the trip. I know it’s a long trip on a Saturday in the middle of the season, but they have been good to us.”
This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Ruston football misses out on opportunities in loss to Edna Karr
