LAFAYETTE — Westgate’s gameplan was to bleed the clock.

With a healthy Tyreese Jackson lining up in the backfield, coach Ryan Antoine’s team wanted to control Friday night’s District 4-4A contest at Teurlings Catholic. Westgate accomplished that in the first quarter as the Tigers held time of possession for more than 11 minutes.

“We wanted to control the ball,” Antoine said. “He (Jackson) was banged up a few weeks ago against STM so that’s why we went to the air in that game. Tyreese is now back healthy and we wanted to utilize him tonight.”

Despite a 100-yard performance from Jackson and successfully controlling the clock, Westgate ultimately fell to Teurlings Catholic 42-28.

Teurlings Catholic (4-4, 2-1) got on the board in the first two minutes of the game as the Rebels capitalized on a Tigers miscue.

Westgate moved the chains with four straight running plays to open the game but then opted to throw the ball down the field. Darien Charles’ first pass attempt was a little too late and was picked off by Rebels defensive back Dylan Langlinais, who ran it back 36 yards down the left sideline for the score.

“Our kids are tough,” Antoine said. “There was no panic on the sidelines. Darien knew he threw it too late. We had to go out there and put it behind us.”

Westgate (4-4, 0-3) responded with its power rushing attack, led by its junior running back. The Tigers’ drive stalled at the Teurlings 10-yard line as Jackson was tackled for no gain on a fourth and five play.

Westgate’s ball control offense did not get any points in that first quarter but it did grind 11:14 off the clock in the first quarter as Teurlings ran only three offensive plays in the opening quarter.

The Rebels got their own running game rolling in the second quarter.

Led by Brandon Trosclair’s 56-yard run, Teurlings found the end zone as quarterback Wesley Blazek powered his way in from three yards out. Despite being dominated by the Tigers in time of possession, the Rebels held a 14-0 lead.

Westgate answered right back as Jackson broke a few tackles on his way to a 51-yard touchdown run. Jackson led all rushers with 134 yards on 22 carries, with 111 of that coming in the first half.

Westgate’s defense then came up with a turnover as Deondre Spencer picked off a Blazek pass in the corner of the end zone. The Tigers were unable to sustain a drive after getting the turnover and gave the Rebels decent field position.

Teurlings took advantage with another touchdown less than a minute before halftime as Trosclair scored from four yards out. At the break, Teurlings led 21-7.

After Trosclair started off the second half with an 86-yard kickoff return, the Rebels added to the lead with a four-yard scoring run by Zander Garber. Westgate responded with a 45-yard touchdown run by Charles but Teurlings came right back with another touchdown drive, this one capped with a one-yard run by Hayden Judice.

“They are just bigger than us up front,” Antoine said. “They just started to wear us out with their running game.”

Teurlings also began in the second half to bring two of their offensive lineman to plug into the middle of the defensive line. That personnel change helped the Rebels slow down the Tigers rushing attack.

“We changed up some personnel,” Teurlings Catholic coach Dane Charpentier said. “We knew we had to get bigger in the front to try to control the line of scrimmage.They have so much athletic ability and size we had to play bend and don’t break all night,”

Westgate mounted a rally in the final quarter with a pair of touchdowns, including a 43-yard pass from Charles to Tyran Davis. That made it a one-possession game and Westgate just needed to come up with a stop on defense. 

After timeouts by both teams, the Rebels faced a third and three with 1:57 left before Trosclair found a seam around the left side of the line and ran it for a 53-yard touchdown.

“We were down one touchdown and we had one timeout left,” Antoine said. “It just came down to inexperience. They did a nice job of creating space on that play and they scored.”

After started the season 4-1, Westgate has now lost three straight but still has a chance of earning a home playoff game with games left against Rayne and Northside.

“We don’t want any moral victories,” Antoine said. “We know games like this are like playoff games. They help us get ready for the playoffs. All three of these losses, we could have won all of those games. We will be ready to roll for these last two weeks.”