Teurlings Catholic able to hold on to lead, defeat Westgate, 42-28

LAFAYETTE — Teurlings Catholic coach Dane Charpentier knew that a 35-14 lead wasn’t safe, not against a team with the athletic ability and quick-strike capability of Westgate’s Tigers.

That’s why he was breathing a sigh of relief not long after the Rebels had secured a 42-28 Homecoming victory over the Tigers, one that wasn’t certain until Landon Trosclair broke loose on a 53-yard scoring run with 1:47 left.

“I’m just happy to get out of here with a win,” Charpentier said. “They have so much athletic ability and size, we had to play bend and don’t break all night.”

It helped that the Rebels led 14-0 early in the second quarter after not taking an offensive snap in the game’s first 11 and one-half minutes. Dylan Langlinais’ 36-yard interception return provided half of that margin on the game’s fifth play, and after a nine-minute Westgate drive netted no points, Rebel quarterback Wesley Blazek led a 90-yard drive and scored himself on a keeper from three yards out 55 seconds into the second period.

Eventually the Rebels (4-4, 2-1 District 4-4A) built 28-7 and 35-14 leads on two early-third quarter scores, but the Tigers came right back with two fourth-quarter tallies behind quarterback Darien Charles. His scoring runs of 45 and one yard sandwiched around a 43-yard scoring pass to Tyron Davis brought Westgate (4-4, 0-3) back within one score with 2:39 left.

But a second straight onside kick attempt didn’t work, and two plays later Trosclair found daylight on the left side and got the final 53 of his game-high 138 rushing yards for a clinching touchdown.

“We certainly didn’t want it to be that close,” Charpentier said. “We’ve got to learn to finish better. We made way too many mistakes.”

One thing the Rebels did right, though, was slow down Westgate’s rushing attack, after the Tigers were hugely successful early. The Tigers’ 72-yard drive that took up the lion’s share of the first period featured only one pass play for seven yards, and Westgate converted two fourth-downs in that march that didn’t result in any points.

But one series later, after Blazek’s score, Westgate standout running back Tyresse Jackson broke a tackle on a sweep left and went 51 yards for a touchdown. Jackson had 111 yards by halftime, but the Tigers were held to under 100 rush yards in the second half.

“They moved more guys into the box,” said Westgate coach Ryan Antoine, “but mostly their defensive line wore us down in the second half.”

Jackson had been slowed by injuries for much of the last two weeks, and as a result the Tigers threw the ball 30 times two weeks ago in a loss to St. Thomas More. The Rebels saw more of an infantry attack.

“He (Jackson) is back in the game now and we wanted to utilize him,” Antoine said.

The Rebels, though, came back with a power-running attack of their own led by Blazek, whose quarterback keepers accounted for 94 of Teurlings’ 292 team rush yards. He also had two key completions to Hunter Landry, one on third down and one on fourth down, that set up Trosclair’s four-yard scoring run 27 seconds before halftime.

Those two scores came after Langlinais’ early pick-six.

“That was huge for us,” Charpentier said. “It’s not many times you play a whole quarter and you don’t have the ball. Our defense hung in there.”

The Rebels appeared to take control when Trosclair returned the second-half kickoff 86 yards to the Westgate 11 and Zander Garber scored from four yards out three plays later for a three-score lead. Trosclair also had a 59-yard kickoff return later in the quarter to set up a drive that Hayden Judice capped with a one-yard scoring run.

But Charles broke loose on a quarterback sweep for a 45-yard touchdown in between those scores, and after an apparent Rebel interception was nullified by a roughing-the-passer penalty, he hit Davis with 9:27 left. After forcing a punt, the Tigers drove again and Charles powered across from one yard out to keep it close in the closing moments.

Teurlings Catholic 42, Westgate 28

WHS      0              7              7              14           —             28

TCHS      7              14           14           7              —             42

First Quarter

TCHS – Dylan Langlinais 36 interception return (Ian Judice kick)

Second Quarter

TCHS – Wesley Blazek 3 run (Ian Judice kick)

WHS – Tyresse Jackson 51 run (Connor Scott kick)

TCHS – Landon Trosclair 4 run (Ian Judice kick)

Third Quarter

TCHS – Zander Garber 4 run (Ian Judice kick)

WHS – Darien Charles 45 run (Scott kick)

TCHS – Hayden Judice 1 run (Ian Judice kick)

Fourth Quarter

WHS – Tyron Davis 43 pass from Charles (Scott kick)

WHS – Charles 1 run (Scott kick)

TCHS – Trosclair 53 run (Ian Judice kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – WHS: Tyresse Jackson 22-134 1 TD, Darien Charles 13-86 2 TD, Kayshon Boutte 5-13, DeQuan DeJean 3-10, Jordan Narcisse 2-2, team 1-minus 3. TCHS: Landon Trosclair 9-138 2 TD, Wesley Blazek 17-94 1 TD, Zander Garber 10-35 1 TD, Hayden Judice 7-28 1 TD, Seth Laviolette 1-0, team 1-minus 3.

PASSING – WHS: Charles 6-14-1, 97 yds., 1 TD. TCHS: Blazek 3-8-1, 30 yds.

RECEIVING – WHS: Tyran Davis 2-50 1 TD, Zye Narcisse 2-27, Boutte 1-12, Jackson 1-8. TCHS: Hunter Landry 2-25, Laviolette 1-5.

Records: WHS 4-4, 0-3; TCHS 4-4, 2-1. Next: WHS hosts Rayne Friday; TCHS at Northside Thursday.