STM jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead over Westgate before the Tigers could get on the field for one offensive snap Thursday at Lloyd G. Porter Memorial Stadium, and cruised to a 23-6 win on sloppy, rain-soaked field.
The Cougars are only 5-3 overall but are 2-0 in district and will win the district title if they can win their next two games against Carencro and New Iberia. Westgate, which had been in control of its own district destiny at 2-0 prior to the game, fell to 5-3 and 2-1.
  
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STM quarterback Matt Flores broke loose for a 63-yard touchdown run on the Cougars’ fifth snap and sophomore Clay Caulkins booted the point-after on his first varsity kick to make it a 7-0 lead with 9:27 left in the opening quarter.
The Cougars then stunned Westgate with an onside kick, breaking the kickoff huddle and running en masse up the middle of the field on the short kick, with Julien Edwards recovering at the Westgate 47 to set up a short field. Six plays later, Joseph LaPrairie ran the ball in from 9 yards out and Caulkins kicked the PAT for a 14-0 lead with 7:52 to go in the first quarter.
“That was real big,” said STM coach Jim Hightower of jumping out to the quick lead on a muddy field. “That was part of it (the decision to go for the onside kick), the weather conditions. We figured we could steal one there.”
Neither team could put together anything offensively the rest of the quarter, but St. Thomas More got another scoring drive early in the second period, capped by Thomas Gumpert’s 37-yard TD run with 10:30 to go in the half. The point-after made it 21-0.
Gumpert led the Cougars with 84 yards on 13 carries. Flores had 83 on nine runs and LaPrairie finished with 48 yards on 13 rushes.
“It definitely alters some things (a team can do offensively), especially on a field like this,” said Fine. “If you don’t break some big runs or get some turnovers, it makes it difficult (to rally from a big deficit). They’re a good defensive club, too.
“They got off to a quick start, got off to a three-score lead early. All you can do is keep playing defense and hope you get some turnovers to get a short field offensively.”
The Tigers did force a few turnovers, a first-quarter interception by Siegan Vergenal when Matt Derise tried to force the ball into double coverage, and a pair of second half fumbles, recovered by Eugene Livingston and Thomas Jack, but none led to scores.
STM got one more first-half score when the ball was snapped over Vergenal’s head on a punt from the 20, and the Westgate kicker was tackled in the end zone for a safety to make it 23-0 with 8:57 to go in the half.
Westgate finally got its initial first down with just under two minutes to go in the half. The Tigers outplayed the Cougars in the second half, netting 11 first downs to two by STM, but only put together one scoring drive, a 12-play, 81-yard series that pulled WHS to within 23-6.
Diontae Spencer scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak but after a procedure penalty on the point-after, Vergenal’s PAT attempt was blocked with 2:53 remaining in the game.
A sack on third-and-nine stopped one drive that had reached STM territory, and the Tigers also saw an 11-play drive end with a 24-yard loss when the snap was sailed over Spencer’s on fourth-and-goal from the 10 with just over 11 minutes to go.
Brandon Malveaux led Westgate with 90 rushing yards on 23 carries. Spencer finished with 49 on 18 runs but the Tigers were only 2-for-7 passing for 11 yards.
“We really did a nice job (on defense),” said Hightower. “They’re so elusive. We did a good job getting the second, third, fourth guys to them.”
STM was only 3-for-8 for 13 yards with an interception, with three different players attempting passes.
“It makes it difficult,” said Fine of the field condition’s effect on the passing game. “Both teams had a difficult time making plays in the passing game.”
Westgate plays host to Comeaux next week for homecoming and finishes the season with an open date.
An STM loss in the next two weeks and a Westgate win next week would give WHS a share of the district title.
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