Westgate High football looks loaded and ready for another state championship push (2024)

What we know

The 2024 version of Westgate High is one of the deepest teams the Tigers fielded in the school's 25 years of playing football.

Coach Ryan Antoine has 16 starters returning from a 2023 team that dealt with significant injury issues that saw a number of underclassmen see playing time.

That returning experience means a lot to Antoine.

"It means that we can do more things on offense and defense," the WHS coach said. "We don't have to run around waring ourselves out as coaches trying to teach.

"We can use our juniors and seniors to teach what we need to do and that frees us up to do more coaching and game-prep."

The biggest returning player for Westgate is senior Jaboree Antoine.

After an injury curtailed his junior season, the University of Miami commit is back at quarterback and safety for the Tigers.

"He knows the target is on him," Antoine said. "I think he tried to do a little too much last year and it caught up to him. This year he knows that he is going to be targeted by everyone and he knows that he just needs to go out and play and have fun and trust his teammates to take some of that pressure off of him."

While the Tigers have to replace two offensive linemen, just about all of the skill players return. In addition to Antoine, Tobias Gardner, who rushed for 1,000 yards last season, and Davian Jackson along with Bryant Leon, who saw time at quarterback last season after Antoine went down, return.

"We should be strong again on offense," Antoine said.

Defensively, the Tigers lost Demaryion Johnson to LSU and Andre Williams to Northwestern State but Antoine returns just about everyone else including Spider Lively, a 3-time All-State players at linebacker and Amare Simon in the secondary.

"We are going to be pretty strong on defense," Antoine said.

What we don't know

As Antoine has repeatedly said, Westgate is the smallest Non-select Division I school, only three students above the cutoff between Division I and Division II.

That means that health and depth are the biggest concerns for the Tigers. Last season, a rash of injuries cause the team issues because there wasn't enough healthy players to take over spots that were lost to injury.

That being said, the Tigers had a numbers of players get significant playing time last season to be able to step into roles this season. Still. depth and health are going to again be a big issue for Westgate as the season unfolds.

"If we stay healthy, we have a good chance to make some big noise this year," Antoine said.

How we see it

Westgate High has the talent to win the state championship as shown three years ago when the Tigers won their first state title in football.

The 2024 version of the team again has enough firepower to make a run at the state championship with Miami commit Jaboree Antoine back after a 2023 season that saw a lot of players get significant playing time due to injury.

Five Players to Watch

Jaboree Antoine

QB-safety, 6-2, 185, Sr.

"Jaboree is the headliner. He is the one everyone knows about. He just has to go out and perform and trust who he is."

Davian Jackson

RB, 6-1, 175, Sr.

"He is out vocal leader. He is our big play guy, our speed guy. He is the one who is going to have to make those big plays in crunch time for us."

Amari Simon

DB, 5-9, 175, Sr.

"He is the Swiss-Army knife on the team for us. He does it all for us whether it is run the ball, catch the ball, play defense and he does it well. Every team needs a couple of guys like this."

Spider Lively

LB, 6-0, 225, Sr.

"He plays both ways for us at linebacker and running back. He is the muscle on the team. We go as he goes."

Bryant Leon

WR, 6-2, 215, Sr.

"He needs to be the go-to guy for us. He is going into his third year as a starter for us. He really helped us last year when he filled in at quarterback. Now we just need him to play his role and be the best he can be."

Projected Starters

Offense

WR Bryant Leon (6-2, 215, Sr.)*

WR Jaxon Malvo (5-9, 165, Jr.)*

TE Gavin Hebert (6-2, 215, Sr.)*

OT Lloyd Vital (6-2, 225, Soph.)

OG Jimmy Huynh (6-0, 280, Soph.)

C Jatyri Rankins (6-0, 250, Sr.)

OG Verkarllo Charles (6-0, 275, Soph.)*

OT Peyton Knatt (6-3, 240, Sr.)*

QB Jaboree Antoine (6-2, 185, Sr.)*

RB Tavias Gordon (5-10, 185, Sr.)*

RB Davian Jackson (6-1, 175, Sr.)*

Defense

DE D’maryian Jackson (6-0, 190, Sr.)*

DT Atrevion Netter (6-3, 300, Sr.)*

DT Lenord Howard (6-1, 265, Jr.)

DE Evan Bryant (6-5, 240, Sr.)*

LB Spider Lively (6-0, 225, Sr.)*

LB Trandin Benjamin (5-11, 195, Jr.)*

LB Makai Wells (6-0, 190, Jr.)*

CB Khylon Antoine (5-10, 175, Sr.)*

CB Jayden Dwyer (5-11, 170, Soph.)

FS John Dautrieve (5-10, 160, Jr.)

SS Amari Simon (5-9, 175, Sr.)*

* - Returning Starter

Coaches

Head coach: Ryan Antoine (82-75).

Assistant coaches: Randall Antoine (OC/QB), Tyrunn Walker (DC/Safeties), Deon Wiliams(RB), Chase Moore (WR), Edwin Pierre(OL), Marcel Winston(OL), James Wallace (DL), Tommy Balom (TE), Donald Lewis (LB), Kendrick Porter (DB), Jerald Hawkins (DL).

2024 Schedule

Sept. 6 LAKE CHARLES PREP

Sept. 13 Calvary Baptist

Sept. 20 LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN

Sept. 27 TEURLINGS

Oct. 4 St. Thomas More

Oct. 11 St. Martinville

Oct. 17 Rayne

Oct. 25 NORTH VERMILION

Nov. 1 NORTHSIDE

Nov. 8 Comeaux

2023 Results

Beat New Iberia 35-14

Beat Lake Charles Prep 43-7

Beat Evangel 34-12

Beat St. Martinville 49-32

Lost Calvary Baptist 32-22

Lost Teurlings 38-14

Beat North Vermilion 19-13

Lost Lafayette Christian 42-11

Lost St. Thomas More 31-21

Beat Northside 23-8

Playoffs

Lost Istrouma 38-16

Past 5 years

2023: 6-4

2022: 10-4

2021: 13-2 (state champions)

2020: 6-4

2019: 9-4