New Iberia Senior High head coach Rick Hutson, left, listens as Kermit Comeaux of the New Iberia Optimist Club talks about the Bayou Berry Bowl, scheduled for today. The club presents a trophy, shown at right, to be displayed at the winning school of each year’s game between NISH and Westgate. - Chris Landry / The Daily Iberian 

It’s been an intense, if friendly, rivalry over the years. The addition of a trophy and renaming their annual game to the Bayou Berry Bowl has added a little spice to the Westgate-New Iberia Senior High contest every fall.

“I think it’s gone real well the first two years,” said Kermit Comeaux at a New Iberia Optimist Club luncheon Wednesday at Cafe Des Amis in New Iberia. Comeaux came up with the idea of renaming the game the Bayou Berry Bowl and presenting a custom trophy to be displayed at the winning team’s school for the year following each game. “Each team has won a game. It’s kind of a rubber match.”

The principals and head football coaches for both schools attended the luncheon, accompanied by two players from each team — Aaron Bird and Brandon Gonsoulin of Westgate and Jason Jones and Dre Fusilier of New Iberia.

NISH coach Rick Hutson alluded to the fact that the teams alternate wins each year, with the Yellow Jackets having won in every even-numbered year and Westgate in every odd-numbered year since the teams began playing in 2003.

“It is a game I think both schools look forward to playing every year,” Hutson said. “You can throw the records out. It’s always a very competitive battle.”

Hutson said he’s coached at five different high schools in his career.

“I’ve been a part of a lot of different rivalries, and I think this is one of the healthiest rivalries that I’ve ever been a part of,” he said. “We pull for Westgate nine times out of the year, we really do, and I mean that sincerely. The only time we don’t want them to win is the night we play.”

Hutson said that many of the players go to school together, up to eighth grade, before heading to the separate high schools.

“We’re not enemies,” said Hutson. “We may be enemies one night a year, but we’re friends the rest of the time. I just think the relationship of the schools is really remarkable for the rivalry to be as intense as it is.”

WHS principal Neely Moore said everyone at Westgate looks forward to the game every year, and wants to make it a community event. Having it on Sugar Cane Festival weekend this year makes it even bigger.

“It’s a good rivalry,” said Westgate coach Ryan Antoine. “All the kids are enjoying this week right now, I can tell you that much. They’re looking forward to it.”

The Optimist Club members had their chances to ask the coaches and players questions, and Comeaux promised one thing — better officiating than has been seen in the NFL recently, following weeks of replacement officials culminating in a controversial ending to Monday night’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks.

“We will have better referees than Monday night,” Comeaux said. “The Louisiana high school association does a bang-up job.”

Among the questions were the comparative sizes of the schools (about 1,600 at NISH and 1,100 at Westgate), the number of players on the rosters (90 varsity players at New Iberia, plus about 60 freshmen; 93 total at WHS) and whether the coaches prefer to be in the Houma-Thibodaux area district or the Lafayette-Lake Charles area district (Hutson said the Houma district is preferable because of travel time — only one two-hour plus trip a year as opposed to three to the Lake Charles area).