Catholic High left Ruston on Sept. 25 with a lopsided 63-28 defeat that dropped their record to 1-3 against a very ambitious schedule.
The Bears remained on the road a week later, regrouping somewhat with a 37-14 victory over Madison-Ridgeland (Miss.) Academy and since then has put together a three-game winning streak that’s placed them atop the District 4-5A standings.
One of the common themes in Catholic High’s resurgence has been the production of senior running back Jayden Miles. The four-star prospect and Florida State commitment helped ignite the Bears’ winning streak with 177 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Madison-Ridgeland.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Miles was just getting started, and when Catholic visited Zachary, the site of his career-best performance in 2024, he unleashed a season-high 214 yards on 11 carries – 19.5 yards per carry – and six touchdowns in a 70-38 victory.
For his efforts Miles is this week’s LouisianaSports.net Player of the Week.
“The sky’s the limit for him in terms of what he’s able to do on the field every Friday,” Catholic High head football coach Hudson Fuller said of Miles, rated the nation’s No. 27 running back by On3/Rivals. “When he gets out there, it’s all about being able to execute, to play hard and play one play at a time.”
Another memorable visit
Miles’ first visit to Zachary’s Bronco Corral was certainly memorable two seasons ago. He rushed for 179 yards and seven touchdowns in a 77-35 triumph that helped the Bears to the district title.
On an evening in which Catholic piled up 678 total yards on just 45 plays, the Bears also featured a lethal passing game with quarterback Cameron Estep completing 10 of 14 passes for 275 yards and two TDs, both of which went to Stanford tight end commitment Jude Chamberlain, who caught five passes for 135 yards.
“All 11 guys on field played really hard, played together and executed at a high level,” Fuller said. “All of that is a byproduct of the preparation of the process that leads into every game.”
Fuller praised the play of the offensive line that paved the way.
“We really believe in our offensive line group and the work they’ve been doing on a weekly basis to prepare for every game,” he said. “The coaches that are a part of that make them aware of the looks they’ll see and the demands on practice are going to replicate the game. The group takes ownership of the things they need to do to prepare every week and being able to go compete for four quarters.”
Big night in store
Miles quickly atoned for his lone mistake on the opening kickoff. A bobble that led to a six-yard loss and Catholic starting from its own 10-yard line was a distant memory by the time Miles began his parade of touchdown runs, including a 25-yard score on the team’s first possession.
“He did a great job of not letting it affect the plays in front of him,” Fuller said. “Just a great play of playing one play at a time and not letting one play – negative or positive results – affect the next play.”
Each time Zachary got within a touchdown, Catholic had an answer, and usually it was Miles.
His 75-yard burst made it 20-7 at the 4:15 mark of the first quarter, and then he got into the end zone from two yards away for a 26-14 lead with 10:03 showing in the second quarter.
The Broncos attempted to get back into the game behind last week’s LSN Player of the Week, Jeremy Patton, who rushed 29 times for 179 yards and five TDs.
Catholic (4-3, 2-0 in 4-5A) finally pulled away after leading 45-35 in the third quarter.
The Bears, who host Central at Memorial Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m., went on a 21-3 run in the third quarter with scoring runs from Miles of 49 and 14 yards.
Miles increased his season’s total to 89 carries for 940 yards and 14 TDs.
“His vision is something as a running back. He’s got great skills and works really hard to understand how the run game is going to function, what the reads are and how they’re going to work from week to week,” Fuller said. “His offseason work to increase his breakaway speed is something that we’re seeing and the benefits of that this year.
“Just the consistency, the ability to be himself, jumps out,” Fuller said. “This season he gets better every week. He’s been such a great teammate and kind of a big part of our bounce-back this season. It’s his personal response.”
