By Kyle Roberts

A sea of ​​Ruston red filled the downtown Civic Center last week for the first-ever Friday Night Lights Community Tailgate, hosted by the Bearcat Football Club to raise money for Ruston High School’s popular football team and prepare fans for the upcoming season.

“On behalf of the Bearcat Football Club, we can’t thank everyone enough for making our Friday Night Lights event possible,” said Wes Clark, President of the Bearcat Football Club. “We owe a huge thank you to all of the sponsors, event planners, auction donors and the community. The Ruston High School football program is self-sustaining.”

“With approximately 160 young men in the program (grades 9-12), it takes a lot of resources to maintain the world-class operation that Coach Jerrod Baugh has envisioned since arriving on campus eight years ago. It is only with the support of so many that this is possible, and we believe everyone has seen the results on the field. We look forward to making this event even bigger and better next year.”

The evening included a silent auction, a live auction and a Raise the Paddle event. Packages offered included travel, airline tickets and Bearcat apparel. Nearly $60,000 was raised through the auctions and ticket sales for the returning state champions.

Baugh addressed the crowd during the event to express his appreciation.

“I always tell our kids that there are people behind the scenes that do a lot for our football program and our team,” Baugh said. “This community is a very special community. I’ve coached in a lot of different places and this place is special. It’s not about one person, it’s not about one coach, it’s not about one football player. It’s about the Ruston High School football team.”

Dan Gressett, principal of Ruston High School, joined in Baugh’s thanks.

“I thought the event was really good,” Gressett said. “We had a good turnout, good food and just a lot of people who are excited about Bearcat football. Thanks to Hunter Smith and Wes Clark from the Bearcat Football Club for all the hard work they did to get everything ready. And thanks to Gibsland Bank and Trust team members Cullen Bishop and Alicia Martin as title sponsors. A lot of people contributed to the success of last night. It was really nice to see everyone together and so excited to help our football program.”

Ruston High opens the regular season on Friday, September 6th at 7 p.m. against Acadiana at home at Hoss Garrett Stadium.