Westgate’s first on-campus playoff game set
Westgate will host its first on-campus football playoff game Friday when ninth-seeded Bastrop visits the No. 25 Tigers in the second round of the Class 4A bracket.
The school began play at its on-campus stadium with artificial turf in 2015.
WHS (7-4) has won four games in a row and is averaging 48 points per game during that span, including a 56-35 win at eighth-seeded Plaquemine last week.
“I think we just executed well,” WHS head coach Ryan Antoine said of his team’s first-round performance. “We made the plays we have to make.
“I think we did a great job offensively with the gameplan and put our guys in position to make plays. We were able to hit on all phases with the run game and the pass game. When we have those two things mixed together we’re hard to stop.”
Wide receiver Kayshon Boutte caught touchdown passes of 45 and 56 yards, respectively, and returned a kick 93 yards for another score.
“I knew I was going to do good but I wasn’t expecting as much as I came out with,” said Boutte, who totaled 11 receptions for 169 yards. “I was mostly just playing my role.
“I had a feeling I was going to return the kick. When I caught the ball I was running towards the sideline and thought I had stepped out of bounds. I went down the sideline, cut it back and made a play.”
Boutte has enjoyed an increase in productivity since he committed to LSU last month.
“I think now that I committed, it’s stress-free on me and I can just ball out without thinking about anything,” he said. “Whenever the ball comes to me, I’m going to try to make a play.
“I don’t expect the ball every play but when it comes to me, my team can count on me to make the play that we need.”
The junior talked about the possibility of pulling off a win against another higher-seeded squad.
“It would mean a lot just putting on a show for the city and advancing to the quarters to play (top-seeded) Edna Karr,” he said.
“Last year we went and lost by 40 points in the first round so it felt good to just win in the playoffs.”
Before the playoffs began, Antoine mentioned that Boutte would need to shoulder a large load in order for the Tigers to advance each week.
“Kayshon stepped his game up,” Antoine said. “That’s what big-time players are supposed to do in big games. They make big plays.
“(Quarterback) Mar’keyvrick Eddie is our X-factor. He makes us go with the way he calls the plays, and the way he is able to run and pass the ball. Since he’s come back you’ve seen a significant difference in our offense and that’s the key part for us.”
Bastrop is 8-2 with narrow losses to No. 4 Neville and Class 5A Brother Martin.
“They’re big, strong, fast and very athletic,” Antoine said. “They look like us a little bit athletic-wise. They’re going to be able to match us so we’re going to have to come out here and play a good, sound game.
“They have five good receivers and a quarterback who can run it. That’s going to be the tough part about it – being able to contain him and stop the pass game. It’s going to be a very tough game. It’s going to be like facing our offense in practice.”