Catholic High rolled up 520 yards rushing in a decisive 48-21 win at Westgate Friday evening.

Wingback Zoe Cormier paced the Panthers with 234 yards rushing on 18 carries and four touchdowns. Running back Trey Henry added 171 yards on 14 attempts and quarterback Trey Amos rushed for 91 yards on 10 rushes.

“This is the most proud I’ve been of a team in a regular season game,” CHS head coach Brent Indest said. “We looked pretty poor last week with five turnovers in two quarters (in a jamboree loss to Vermilion Catholic). We played it pretty close to the vest, because we didn’t want to show too much.

“But to come out against these guys — everybody’s been talking about how (Westgate) has seven DI guys — it’s a testament to the game of football. I don’t care how much talent you put out there. If you don’t play together as a unit and don’t play together as one common being, then you’re not going to be able to get it done.”

After forcing Westgate to go three-and-out on its first possession, Amos got the Panthers on the board with a 35-yard scramble on third and 11.

“We knew this was a huge game for us, especially coming back and losing all the starters that we lost,” Indest said. “Trey Amos showed some flashes. Tonight, he was more of a game manager, but he made plays when he needed to. That first touchdown, it was a totally broken play. He just reversed his field and took it. I assure you I didn’t coach that.”

Westgate took the ensuing kickoff and embarked on a lengthy drive to the CHS 7-yard line, but a Darian Charles pass intended for star receiver Kayshon Boutte fell incomplete on fourth and 2.

The Panthers quickly pounced again when Cormier sprinted 87 yards on a third-and-4 trap play to push the lead to 14-0 with 10:25 remaining in the second quarter.

“We played soft,” Westgate head coach Ryan Antoine said. “We gave up too much defensively early and just could never stop the bleeding. They ran the ball at will on us and we just couldn’t stop it. We have to go in there, clean some things up and get some other guys ready to step up as well.

“Hats off to them for a good game plan and coming right at us. We’re going to have to load up and put our better guys on defense. We thought we could make it with some guys, and it didn’t work out for us. We weren’t physical enough. You’ve got to make tackles.”

The Tigers (0-1) reduced the deficit to 14-7 when quarterback Mar’keyvrick Eddie kept the ball on a read option around the left side with 7:08 remaining in the first half. That was the final play of the game for the senior, however.

“At the end of the touchdown run, Eddie separated his shoulder,” Antoine said. “He probably could have went and kept playing, but we decided that in the first game of the season, we’re not going to risk him to future injury. He should be good to go for next week.”

Eddie finished with 50 yards on five carries. He was seven of seven through the air for 67 yards.

Late in the first half, the Panthers (1-0) relied on a little trickery on fourth and 3 from their own 26 with a successful fake punt.

“This early in the year, it’s really a crapshoot, because you’re not sure how they’re going to line up,” Indest said. “One thing they’ve always done on defense in that situation is stand up. They don’t get down in a stance.

“I’m going to give away a secret: we snuck in our starting right side of the offensive line on that fake punt. We didn’t even have our normal punt personnel in there. That was a freshman who got the first down, K.K. Reno.”

On the next play after Reno’s nine-yard burst, Cormier raced 65 yards to paydirt with 4:51 remaining in the second quarter.

“Our offensive line just mauled them,” Indest said. “They were out there trying to shoot gaps and that plays right into what we want to do.”

A one-yard plunge by Charles cut the deficit to 21-14 at the half.

Catholic had a chance to go into the break with a two-touchdown lead. Receiver Peter LeBlanc took a handoff on third and 2 from the Westgate 30 and had a man that appeared to be wide-open, but Makholven Sonn was able to make the interception.

“We used Peter more as a decoy tonight,” Indest said. “We had them on the trick play, but that’s partially my fault. I told Peter that if it was wide open, don’t overthrow him. And No. 3 (Sonn), he came out of there like a bullet. There’s a reason that guy is a Power Five conference guy. I’ve never seen a guy make up that much ground.”

The Panthers kept their foot on the pedal in the second half, taking the opening kickoff and chewing up nearly half of the third quarter on a scoring drive that culminated in a six-yard Amos run on fourth and 2.

Catholic’s defense was able to neutralize star running back Tyreese Jackson, who was held to 37 yards on eight carries before leaving the game in the third quarter.

“Tyreese has been battling a groin injury since last season,” Antoine said. “He’s been doing some therapy on it. But after he kept running, it started tightening up, so with the score the way it was we decided to keep him out.”

Boutte, who had two long touchdowns wiped out due to penalty, ran for 76 yards on six carries and caught two passes for 19 yards.

“We knew we had to bend on defense,” Indest said. “We played a five-man box all night long and dared them to run the ball. We were not going to let No. 1 (Boutte) and No. 3 (Sonn) run vertical on us and give them easy touchdowns.

“To hold a team with that kind of firepower to 14 points — I can’t say enough about these guys. Marlon Brown, Ben Hymel and Alex Guilbeau all played well on defense. We played a style of defense that says, ‘you’re supposed to run at this,’ and we didn’t stifle them but we slowed them down.”