At a time when his team should’ve been celebrating a big win over crosstown rival Westgate, New Iberia Senior High head football coach Rick Hutson’s Yellow Jackets instead were dealing with the devastating news that a former teammate had been shot and killed while away at college.

Hutson said he learned of the death of former Jackets’ starting defensive back Derek Olivier via a text message at halftime of New Iberia’s 43-7 win over the Tigers Thursday night at Lloyd G. Porter Memorial Stadium. Hutson said he didn’t want to tell the team about it during the game, though some did find out before the game ended.

“It just kind of underscores how unimportant games are,” said Hutson. “He was a great kid, and I know a lot of the players were close to him. It’s going to be something we’ve got to go through together.”

Olivier was a freshman cornerback at Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock, one of several players from the Teche Area on the Buffaloes’ roster, including former NISH offensive lineman Tre Olivier, former Westgate running back Willie Ware, former Loreauville running back Nick Julien, former Franklin running back Tremayne Johnson.

“I don’t even know how to respond to questions,” said Hutson.

Westgate coach Ryan Antoine used the news of the shooting as a cautionary tale for his players. WHS faced its own similar, senseless loss of a former athlete in July when Fred Joseph, a basketball standout and receiver on the football team who had gone on to a college career in North Dakota, was shot in the parking lot of a Lafayette fast-food restaurant.

Antoine told his players on the eve of this weekend’s Sugar Cane Festival events to be aware of their surroundings and to make sure they didn’t become involved in anything that could lead to trouble.

The Yellow Jackets played well in claiming the Bayou Berry Bowl Trophy, presented to the team to keep at the school for the next year by members of the New Iberia Optimist Club following the game. NISH, ranked ninth in the latest Class 5A statewide poll, improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in district. Westgate fell to 0-5 and 0-2.

New Iberia turned two of Westgate’s three turnovers into touchdowns and used a penalty on a fourth-down play to sustain another touchdown drive in taking a 31-0 first-half lead.

The first TD was a 23-yard pass from Jason Jones to Josh Richie, capping a two-play drive following a Westgate fumble. New Iberia’s next score came on a seven-yard run by Jones three plays after the Jackets were awarded a first down because of pass interference on a fourth-and-nine play.

A big pass play with a fumble recovery at the end opened the second quarter scoring for NISH. Andrew Ricks took a screen 32 yards before being tackled inside the 5. Bryson Bourque recovered the ensuing fumble in the end zone to push NISH to a 21-0 lead, with the PAT by Cody Sedlitsky.

A screen pass on a fake to the left and throw back to the right led to a 57-yard gain by receiver Scotty Nicholas, setting up a 23-yard field goal by Sedlitsky that made it a 24-0 lead.

Daniel Lewis returned an interception 34 yards two minutes later to set up another NISH score. Lewis capped the ensuing drive with a two-yard scoring run to make it 31-0 after the PAT.

New Iberia added another TD just after halftime before beginning to substitute heavily. Dre Fusilier’s 34-yard TD run through a big hole over the right side ended the drive and gave NISH a 37-0 lead. Devante Brown blocked the point-after try.

Westgate’s offense got uncranked on its first drive of the final period, with Trevonte Williams moving back to tailback after starting the game at quarterback. Aaron Bird’s nine-yard pass to Javonte Etienne on a fourth-and-five play kept the drive going, and Williams broke loose around the left side and raced 53 yards to the end zone three snaps later. The PAT by Bird made it a 37-7 game.

Williams was responsible for the bulk of the Tigers’ offensive output, rushing for 120 yards on 23 carries and passing for four yards on three completions. Four other ballcarriers had a combined 33 yards on eight carries, and Bird completed his only pass attempt on the night.

NISH answered with a five-play, 50-yard drive after the Jackets’ Tyler Bacas recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt. Backup QB Scotty Nicholas had scoring honors on a 16-yard run that pushed New Iberia over the 200-yard mark on the ground as a team. Seven ballcarriers shared running duties, paced by Tyler Archon with 54 yards on 11 rushes, Fusilier’s 44 yards on three totes and Donnell Washington’s 41 yards on four runs.

Westgate continues to fight injuries, losing its starting center to a broken leg and running back Jamal Sam to third-degree burns on his legs in a grease fire this week. Given the Tigers returned only six starters this season to begin with, the injuries his team has sustained have slowed the coaches’ ability to get a set lineup and figure out the best spot for everyone on the team. Starting defensive back Bryson Bourque played Friday, and carried the ball on offense three times, after breaking his wrist in last week’s game against Terrebonne.

“We’re growing,” said Antoine. “We’re a team that has a lot of guys that didn’t play in a lot of positions right now, and we’ve got a lot of guys that were playing in those positions that are injured right now. We’re basically just trying to piece together a team every week with the injuries and just with the youth that we have.”

Antoine said his team is focusing on staying together and working to improve.

“We’ve just got to stick together,” he said. “And these guys are doing a good job of staying strong and doing the right things, and that’s all we can ask for right now. I want these kids to keep coming out here and keep fighting.”

It’s a process, he said, having been on struggling teams himself, and as long as the team sticks to the course things will improve.

“We know better days are going to come,” said Antoine. “Those things are going to happen with the youth and inexperience we have. Playing a team like New Iberia that’s good and disciplined, you’re going to get exploited in those spots.”

As the shocking news at the end of the game showed, there are bigger things than football, he said.

“We’re going through things for a reason,” he said. “That’s just the test of football.

“I told the principal, and I told the kids, I didn’t come here to win football games. I came here to work with the community and let these kids know there’s something positive you can do outside of football.”