NEW IBERIA — It feels like it was just yesterday that the Westgate Tigers got an early Christmas gift — winning their first championship in Tigers' history.
"As a coach you to win. You want to be in that game and you want to win it. That was the to talk with our kids. We're not here just to go, this is not a field trip. We're going here and we want to win this thing", says Antoine.
But how did they get there?
"Just the way our kids battled and just what we've been through as a program. Coming from where we come from and doing what our kids do, but we tell them this all the time, our kids live on the one-yard line outside of school. S o they understand how to survive and how to make it."
It's ironic that the one-yard mentality became the game winning reality. But its also that unwavering belief that carried Antoine through a bittersweet celebration.
"My mom had bleeding on the brain brain on Wednesday and got rushed ICU, got flown to Baton Rouge. She comes to every single one of my games and for them not to be at this game was really touching and kind of had an off kilter for a little while. It's a whole bunch of emotion that you're trying to handle. You know but to be able to come back after the game and she's in a parking lot with my dad, that meant the world to us."
Because of the success, Antoine was a unanimous choice for coach of the year across the state. Antoine says he's humbled by the awards, but it's the team who deserves the recognition.
"Once again, I can't take the credit for it. I got an amazing staff, we've got an amazing group of kids, they're just amazing support staff. So to have the accolade of coaching here, that's fine, but I really think its staff of the year."
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