Here’s what Destrehan expects to get from Ruston in the Division I nonselect football championship

Undefeated Destrehan will face a familiar postseason opponent when the third-seeded Wildcats face No. 1 Ruston in the Division I nonselect state football championship set for 7 p.m. Friday in the Caesars Superdome.

This will be the third year in a row for Destrehan (13-0) and Ruston (12-1) to meet in the postseason after Destrehan won the past two meetings in the quarterfinals by scores of 24-10 in 2021 and 6-0 in 2020.

Destrehan coach Marcus Scott described Ruston as a “very physical, downhill run team” on offense, something that is “different than a lot of teams we see these days.”

“I told (Ruston coach Jarrod Baugh) I appreciate how they play,” Scott said. “You don’t see that anymore.”

Ruston senior quarterback Jaden Osborne, in his third season as the starter, "is a lot more comfortable throwing the ball, doing some more spread stuff with their offense," Scott said. "He has an ability to run and throw it. I think the confidence of their quarterback is at an all-time high.”

Ruston has two running backs who each have more than 1,000 yards on the ground: senior Dyson Fields (21 touchdowns) and sophomore Jordan Hayes (nine), who have combined for 2,217 yards rushing.

Ruston, which defeated No. 5 Zachary 37-22 in a semifinal, has put a focus on defeating the school that eliminated it from the playoffs in the past two seasons.

"It is a state championship game, and obviously that’s really big in itself," said Baugh, in his sixth season as the Ruston head coach, "but I think for our guys that have been around the past two years, they take it personal that (Destrehan has) been the ones that put us out."

In most games this season, Destrehan has been up to the challenge from the start. The Wildcats scored between 42 and 49 points in all 10 regular-season games, with much of that scoring coming in the first halves of those games.

Only in the postseason have Destrehan starters needed to play into the fourth quarter. After a 35-14 victory against No. 14 Dutchtown, the Wildcats held off No. 11 East St. John 21-20 when senior Travon Thomas broke up a 2-point conversion pass with less than two minutes to play in a quarterfinal.

In a semifinal last week, senior quarterback Jai Eugene Jr. cemented a 21-6 victory against No. 10 Westgate with a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Destrehan leaned on Eugene and junior Shane Lee on the seven-play scoring drive as the duo combined for all 66 yards rushing.

Eugene, a dual threat as a rusher and passer, is a Tulane commitment who projects to play defensive back in college.

Destrehan is accustomed to deep postseason runs, reaching the state semifinal round five years in a row and eight times in a span of 10 seasons. The Wildcats last reached the state final when the current seniors were freshmen and lost to Acadiana 8-3 in 2019. This will be the 17th postseason game for the current senior class.

“The thing that I’ve been most proud of is the kids have been able to maintain the same level of play 13 out of the 14 weeks,” Scott said. “The dip in play happened with East St. John in the third round of the playoffs. But it’s hard to keep them at that level all the way through. We were fortunate to make enough plays at the end to survive, but we kind of got back on track last week.”

Destrehan, the winner of four state championships, last won state when it claimed successive crowns in 2007 and 2008. Ruston, in the state final for the first time since 1998, won the last four of its eight state titles between 1982 and 1990.