What should’ve been a joyful homecoming win instead was a somber one for Westgate High School as senior defensive back Shannon Deal was taken from the stadium in an ambulance after going head to head making a potential game-saving stop on a 2-point conversion attempt in the Tigers’ 28-20 win over Patterson High School Friday night.

Westgate coach Ryan Antoine thanked the Lumberjacks after the game for the sportsmanship and respect they showed in taking a knee as Deal was attended to on the field. The teams gathered at midfield following the game for a prayer and discussion.

In other games Friday in the Teche Area, Catholic High School bounced back from its loss to Class 3A’s top ranked Notre Dame by beating Jeanerette 57-8 in the Panthers’ District 7-2A opener, New Iberia fell to LaGrange 35-30 in a District 3-5A game, Loreauville shut out Franklin 20-0 for homecoming, West St. Mary shut out Delcambre 48-0 to improve to 2-0 in District 7-2A, Hanson rolled to a 53-29 win over District 7-A rival Gueydan, St. Martinville lost a non-district game at Woodlawn of Baton Rouge 31-21, Erath fell to Welsh 34-16 in a non-district outing and Centerville suffered its first loss, falling at Vermilion Catholic 49-6 in 7-A action.

On Thursday, Highland Baptist pounded St. John of Plaquemine 54-34 and Assembly Christian lost an ACEL game to John Paul the Great, 48-14.

Westgate 28, Patterson 20

With Westgate clinging to a 21-20 lead with 8:05 left in the game, Deal stopped Patterson quarterback Dajon Richard short of the goal on a 2-point attempt following Richard’s six-yard touchdown run.

Play was stopped for more than 15 minutes as Deal was seen to by trainers. Westgate players, coaches and cheerleaders gathered for a prayer before most made their way over to check on their teammate, many visibly shaken by the injury. Tears streamed down several players’ faces asthe ambulance drove into the stadium before taking Deal off strapped to a board.

Antoine said it was tough for the players to have to continue with the game, but after telling the team that if they could answer Patterson’s touchdown with one of their own the game would be in hand for them.

That’s exactly what happened as the Tigers drove 65 yards in nine plays to effectively put the game out of reach. Ja’Tyrin Allen, one of Deal’s closest friends on the team and a fellow defensive back, demanded the ball on offense and produced with two carries for 12 yards on the drive. Fullback Jansen Mayea got the scoring honors with a one-yard plunge to cap the drive with 4:22 to go.

Allen, normally a receiver on offense, played his tail off running the ball and also had a good block on another carry, Antoine said.

“Now we’ve just got to pray and make sure he’s okay,” Antoine said after the game. “Guys stepped up, but right now it’s kind of a different feeling because of one of our top guys that we’re worried about.”

Tailback Tyreese Jackson was limited to nine first-half carries and 36 yards because of an injury for the Tigers with Dequan Dejean carrying for 33 yards on nine carries and receiver Kayshon Boutte gaining a team-high 39 yards on four runs.

Most of Westgate’s points came through the air on big plays by quarterback Darien Charles, who finished just 3-for-13 with an interception but threw three touchdown passes — 24 yards to Boutte, 22 yards to Keith Lopez and 42 yards to Boutte. Boutte had two catches for 66 yards.

Richard led a potent Patterson rushing attack that gained 228 yards on the ground despite missing its starting tailback and quarterback. Richard had 140 yards on 32 carries and scored on runs of 14 and six yards. Allen Langston ran for 65 yards on 22 carries and Jamioun Butler had 42 yards on six rushes, including a 20-yard touchdown.

Westgate (4-1) opens a brutal stretch of District 4-4A games Friday at St. Thomas More (4-1), following that with a home game against Carencro (1-3), a trip to Teurlings Catholic (2-3) and then a home game against Rayne (4-0).

Catholic High 57, Jeanerette 8

JaDan Stokes rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown, Zoe Cormier had 107 yards and two scores and Catholic High held Jeanerette to one first down in the first half as the Panthers opened District 7-2A play with a rout of Jeanerette

Ben Landry added 66 yards and two touchdowns rushing for the Panthers, who scored 36 straight points in the first half to take control of the game and improve to 4-1 overal and 1-0 in district.

CHS forced Jeanerette to punt nine times and the Tigers finally got a first down with less than a minute remaining in the first half.

Jeanerette (2-3, 0-2) finished with 137 total yards, most of which came in the second half when the Panthers pulled their starters and played mostly junior varsity and freshmen players.

CHS plays host to West St. Mary Thursday. Jeanerette plays host to Ascension Episcopal Friday.

LaGrange 35, New Iberia 30

After racing to a 20-6 lead Friday night against homestanding New Iberia Senior High,  LaGrange’s pass-happy Gators relied on the leg of their senior placekicker and the legs of a speedy junior running back to win their first game of 2017.

With NISH’s defense slowing down the Gator’s aerial bombardment after the first 12 minutes, LaGrange got three straight field goals from Daiwruin Arzu to nurse a 29-23 lead into the fourth quarter that vanished on a clutch 4-yard touchdown pass from NISH’s junior quarterback Austin Norris to senior wideout Christian Druilhet. That scoring toss and junior placekicker Seth Landry’s PAT gave the Yellow Jackets a short-lived 30-29 lead with 5:42 to play and capped an 11-play, 55-yard scoring march with all but one play on the ground.

That was too much time for LaGrange senior quarterback Colvin Frank and Anthony Johnson, who scored his third touchdown of the game when he took a short screen pass to the left, worked his way to midfield and raced 62 yards down the right hash mark for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown at the 3:16 mark in the fourth quarter.

The Gators, 1-3, protected their 35-30 advantage in the waning minutes with two interceptions of Norris, who threw for more than 250 yards and three TDs.

NISH’s William Black, a junior defensive back, kept the score within reach with two interceptions in the second quarter, the first pick on a first-down pass from Frank at the NISH 39 and the second aerial theft on a third-and-10 attempt by Frank at the NISH 37.

Following Arzu’s 37-yard field goal in the third quarter that doubled the Gators’ lead to 26-13, senior running back Eddie McZeal fielded Arzu’s only returnable kickoff at his own 1 and raced 99 yards for a touchdown that elicited a roar from the hometown crowd and cut the deficit to 26-20 with Landry’s PAT.

Arzu added a 23-yard field midway through the third quarter to make it 29-20 and set the stage for the exciting finish, one made possible by Landry’s 38-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the third quarter that cut the Jackets’ deficit to 29-23.

The Jackets slipped to 1-4 with their fourth straight loss. Both teams had three-game losing streaks going into the district matchup.

Loreauville 20, Franklin 0

LOREAUVILLLE — Brennon Williams rushed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass and the Loreauville Tigers improved to 2-0 in District 7-2A with a shutout win over Franklin Friday.

Williams scored on a 15-yard run in the first quarter and a 25-yard pass from Zy Alexander in the third quarter for the Tigers, who held leads of 7-0 after the first quarter, 13-0 at halftime and 20-0 at the end of three periods in improving to 2-3 overall and 2-0 in district.

After losing its first three games of the season, LHS has won two straight. The Tigers have a district bye Friday and travel to New Roads to face Catholic High of Pointe Coupee.

Franklin (0-5, 0-2) was shut out for the second time this season. The Hornets have scored 40 points this season through five games. Zariq Perry led Franklin with 58 yards rushing and Malik King added 57 for the Hornets.

FSH plays host to Delcambre Friday.

West St. Mary 48, Delcambre 0

BALDWIN — Desmon Washington rushed for 261 yards and four touchdowns as West St. Mary rolled past Delcambre Friday in a District 7-2A game.

Taylun Druilhet threw for 199 yards and a touchdown for the Wolfpack, who improved to 2-3 overall and 2-0 in district. WSM travels to Catholic High Thursday.

Washington had touchdown runs of 38 yards and seven yards  in the second quarter, one yard in the third quarter and 33 yards in the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack rushed for 342 yards.

Lane Broussard led Delcambre with 30 yards rushing.

The Panthers (0-4, 0-2) travel to Franklin Friday.

Vermilion Catholic 49, Centerville 6

ABBEVILLE — Drew Lege threw four touchdown passes in the first quarter as Vermilion Catholic built a 35-0 lead and cruised to the District 7-A win over Centerville Friday.

Lege completed 19-of-24 passes for 353 yards and six touchdowns for the Eagles, who improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in district.

After scoring an average of 55 points through its first four games, Centerville was held to 6 points against the Eagles. Matthew LeBourgeois led the Bulldogs (4-1, 0-1) with 152 yards and a touchdown on the ground but no one else had for than 56 yards for Centerville.

It was the district opener for CHS, which plays host to Gueydan Thursday.

Highland Baptist 54, St. John 34

PLAQUEMINE — Brontre Griffin rushed for 200 yards and four touchdowns on only 11 carries and Myles Liggans threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns as Highland Baptist roared to a non-district win over St. John Thursday.

Griffin also caught three passes for 38 yards and a touchdown and Liggans rushed for 113 yards and a score as the Bears improved to 2-3 overall heading into Friday’s District 7-A contest at home Friday against Central Catholic. It was Highland’s last non-district game of the season.

Griffin also had 12 ½ tackles on defense while Cameron Decuir aded eight tackles, one interception and caused a fumble and Hunter Reaux added 8 ½ tackles and caused a fumble.

Highland finished with 655 all purpose yards in the win.

St. John fell to 0-5.