It’s ‘Dome or bust for the Westgate football team this season.

The Tigers, who went 6-4 last year after several injuries, including to starting QB/defensive back Jaboree Antoine, left the team at a disadvantage against some of the largest schools in the state.

This year, the Tigers are not only looking to right last season’s wrongs, they’re chomping at the bit to earn a place in the final game of the season at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

“We want to win the last game of the season,” said head coach Ryan Antoine. “That’s always been our motto; we want to be playing in the last football game of the year and win the last football game of the season.”

To do that, Westgate will have to run the gauntlet through District 4-4A, one of the toughest schedules in the state, in addition to facing off against perennial powerhouses like Lake Charles College Prep (Week 1), Calvary Baptist (Week 2) and Lafayette Christian (Week 3).

“The biggest thing is that you want to be battle tested and playoff ready early,” Antoine explained. “We also want to see what the rest of the state has to offer. We’ve been successful over the last six or seven years and we want to make sure that we stay among those top teams in the state. In order to do that, you have to play those guys.”

“We also run into the problem of not too many people wanting to play us, so we all end up playing each other because not too many other teams want to play.”

A game that was kept on the schedule but moved to a different format was the annual NISH/Westgate game, which will be played as a three-game series on August 29. For Antoine, moving the game out of the regular season not only allowed both teams to maximize their schedules, it was also a way to keep the teams in the community.

“Coach Lierman and the rest of those guys are doing some things to get NISH built back up, so we wanted to let them play more opponents that would give them a better opportunity to do that,” he said. “We also looked at it, power points-wise, as it helping us to move it to the jamboree. We’ve been having to go play out of town for the jamboree, so this is a way to get it back into our community. It was a win-win on both sides.”

With the NISH games moved to the jamboree and a full slate of games already on the schedule, the Tigers are focusing on getting their team prepared for the start of the season.

As the smallest school in Division I Non-Select, Westgate will enter every playoff game outnumbered. The Tigers’ 20-18 loss to Ruston in the second round of the 2023 Division I Non-Select playoffs has become a loss that the team hopes to build from ahead of the 2024 season.

“It left a bad taste in our mouths,” Antoine said. “Going out there and feeling like it was definitely a winnable game. For the last two years, we’ve lost to the state champions, so I definitely feel like we could have been in those spots. Now we just want to get the kids to understand that we need to give a little extra. We’re the smallest school in Division I and we’ve got to go out there and play while being out-manned. Our work ethic has to be different from everybody else because our team won’t have as much depth as everyone else. If we take a play off, it could cost us our season.”

That focus on work ethic comes naturally for senior running back Tavias Gordon.

“Tavias is a kid that stood out and ended up being our go-to guy last year once we started having those injuries,” Antoine said of his starting RB. “He’s always been that way and we’ve always known that he would be that guy for us, so this year we expect more.”

Gordon, who ended the season with 213 carries for 1603 yards and 17 touchdowns, earned Best of the Teche Offensive MVP honors as well as attention from several D1 college programs across the country. Antoine said that Gordon plans to work even harder this season to stand out in a crowded group of talented seniors.

“He’s been working hard towards that and trying to bring more to the table. He wants to be in the conversation about top running backs in the state, and this is a very talented class of guys in Louisiana, so he’s going to play ball at a high level,” Antoine said. “How he goes is how we’ll go as well.”

Joining Gordon as a leader, both on and off the field, is a strong contingent of talented athletes who can play anywhere on the field and lead by example for their teammates.

“Vocally, it’s been Davian Jackson and Amari Simon. As far as leading by example, it’s been Jaboree (Antoine),” Antoine said when asked about the team leaders. “We also have Gavin Hebert who was voted as our team captain and he’s been a big leader for us. Spida (Dy’traevous Lively) is going to be the muscle for the team and is going to be the one who makes everything tick. We’re going to lean on those guys for a lot of different things and the rest of the team is going to follow them.”

The Tigers will have a strong corps of veteran seniors on the team this season, augmented by one of the most talented freshmen classes in the state. One new addition to the team, Noah Antoine, has already begun to cement his place on the roster at one of Westgate’s thinnest spots.

“We’ve given thought to other players as well because we know we can’t go into the season with just one quarterback and get caught unprepared like we were last year,” Ryan Antoine said. “Jaboree is definitely going to play some quarterback this year, as will BJ (Bryant Leon Jr.). Probably our most impressive kid this whole summer has been Noah Antoine. He’s a freshman quarterback and we’ve been grooming him at the position. He’s had a hell of a summer and in 7-on-7 ball, he’s grasping all of it. He’s young, but there’s going to be some times where he will have to go out there and play for us.”

According to Antoine, the integration of the freshmen class is going to be handled carefully so as not to hinder their development for future seasons.

“It’s going to be a little bit of everything. We don’t want to throw them out there too early because that can be detrimental, but we also want to make sure we get them on the field,” he said. “You’ll see them on special teams and sprinkled in here and there so they can get some game reps early. They need to learn the speed of the game early on, because by the end of the year you may need them. The biggest thing is for them to watch the guys in front of them and learn how we play and how we practice. Some of our top guys have offers from all around the country, so those young guys need to pay attention and make sure they’re working just as hard.”

One of the biggest changes for the Tigers will be on the sidelines. Randall Antoine (Westgate Class of 2006), who served as both running backs and special teams coach last year, has accepted the offensive coordinator position for the 2024 season. Antoine was an obvious choice to take over the playcalling alongside his head coach brother, and has also become the head track and field coach following the departure of three-peat state champion Phillip Guidry.

“It’s been a smooth transition,” said Ryan Antoine about his brother’s new appointment. “He’s been around the program for a long time and the kids know him. Towards the end of the year last season he took over the play calling and I felt like he did a real good job for us. We’re going to be running mostly the same things, just with a little more creativity with motions and things like that. Westgate is always going to be Westgate, we’re going to be up-tempo and just fly around the field having fun. It’s not going to be a drop off from what you’ve been seeing, just a little more explosive.”

The Tigers will begin the 2024 campaign on Sept. 6 with a home contest against Lake Charles College Prep. The playoffs will begin on November 16, with the season ending at the Caesars Superdome in December.

Westgate Tigers 2024 schedule

Jamboree – NISH (Varsity, JV, Freshmen), 8/29/24

Week 1 – Lake Charles College Prep, 9/6

Week 2 – Calvary Baptist, 9/13

Week 3 – Lafayette Christian, 9/20

Week 4 – Teurlings Catholic*, 9/27

Week 5 – St. Thomas More*, 10/4

Week 6 – St. Martinville, 10/11

Week 7 – Rayne*, 10/17

Week 8 – North Vermilion*, 10/25

Week 9 – Northside*, 11/1

Week 10 – Comeaux*, 11/8

*- District 4-4A Opponent

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