‘Amazing’ Amaaz contributes in a variety of ways for Westgate

Published 8:30 am Wednesday, December 1, 2021

While players like Jordan Doucet, Danny Lewis, Steven Antoine and others get the lion’s share of the publicity for the Westgate High football team, an unsung junior, Amaaz Eugene, plays his own key role in Westgate’s success this season with the myriad of ways he gets the ball and produces results.

“‘Amazing,’ that’s kind of what we call him,” Westgate coach Ryan Antoine said. “He’s a kid that’s been playing well all year.

“He’s had about five or six touchdowns called back for one reason or another, either on special teams or breaking a big run or a big pass.

“He’s come back and had a good year. Amaaz had a lot of personal things in his life that he was dealing with last year and he’s overcome it and I’m so happy to see him develop into the kind of player that he is. He’s an amazing kid with an amazing family.”

Eugene plays many different roles for the Tigers.

He plays both receiver and running back in the offense and returns kicks and punts on special teams as well.

“Whatever the coaches need me to do I do,” Eugene said. “I play the outside receiver or the slot receiver. I kind of prefer the slot but I can play outside as well.”

Antoine has been happy with what Eugene has been able to do on the field.

“With Dedrick (Latulas) and Jordan and all those guys stepping up for us,he’s become that guy we can count on,” Antoine said. “There are not a lot of guys that can match up with him when we put him on the perimeter.

“So we just have to find a matchup that he can win.”

What Eugene has a lot of is speed. He was a member of the state championship 4×100 meter relay team for Westgate last spring and has gotten faster since then.

“He took his offseason serious and that’s what we do around here in this program,” Antoine said. “So not only did he get faster, he became a better player because he learn how to play different positions.”

And Eugene takes advantage of that speed.

“Most people play back on me because they are scared of my speed,” Eugene said. “So I just have to get out in open space and make people miss.

“Then last year I started learning multiple positions so that I could be even more effective on offense.”

Eugene is going to need that speed and more Friday night when the No. 5 seed Tigers travel to play No. 1 seed Edna Karr in the Class 4A semifinals at Behrman Stadium in Algiers.

“We know they are going to be a tough team and they are good,” Eugene said. “But we’re not afraid of anyone and we’re going into that game believing we can win and get to the Superdome for the finals.”