A little razzle-dazzle, a little emotion and a whole lot of defense was just what New Iberia Senior High needed Friday and that’s just what they got as the Jackets scored early and held on late for a 14-7, District 3-5A win over crosstown rival Westgate.

The razzle-dazzle came in the form of a nifty wide receiver reverse pass for a score with nine seconds left in the first half as NISH grabbed a 7-0 lead.

The emotion came in the form of an impassioned plea from NISH coach Rick Hutson to his team as he showed a tape of former NISH standout Thomas Cleary, who is battling a brain tumor, and urged his team to play to their best.

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The defense came as the Jackets, in coaching parlance, bent but didn’t break, coming up with just enough plays to hold Westgate out of the end zone despite several chances the Tigers had to score. The Jackets improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in district and have won three straight.

After the game, an emotional NISH coach Rick Hutson, wet from a water cooler dumping, was happy for his team but sad in thinking about Cleary.

“The people who have been to our games the past two weeks have been treated to some exciting games,” said Hutson. “I’m proud of my team and proud of Westgate too. They’ve improved so much and that’s a tribute to their coaching staff.

“Coach Fine and his staff have done a great job of taking then from where they were in August to how well they’ve played tonight. I’m sure that he’s disappointed because they had some opportunities down at the end of the field and couldn’t get in and we had some opportunities too. There were just some times tonight where the defenses played just well enough to stop both offenses.”

Scoring was at a premium. In the first half, both teams had long drives that came up empty. NISH was forced to punt after one drive stalled at the Westgate 38-yard line. The Tigers missed out on two scoring opportunities, with one drive stalling at the 23-yard line, where Seigen Vergenal missed a 40-yard field goal attempt, and another drive stopped at the NISH 28 just before halftime as Michael Lamothe intercepted a Deon Anthony pass.

And that set up the play of the game.

With under 20 seconds left in the first half and the Jackets at midfield, quarterback Jordy Joseph took the snap and pitched the ball to Emanuel Harding running to the right side. Harding then flipped the ball to Harold Roberts, who was coming back across the field as though he was running a reverse. But Roberts stopped just before turning upfield and threw to Tyler Olivier, who got behind the Westgate defense and caught the ball at the goal line, falling into the end zone for the score with 9 seconds left in the second quarter.

“Coach is a genius,” said Roberts, a wide receiver and defensive back by trade who was originally a quarterback at NISH. “We ran the play, it was a good call, a good pass and a great catch by Tyler. I still got in me to be a quarterback.”

It was a play whose success even surprised Hutson.

“It was a lucky call,” said Hutson. “I didn’t think that we could run a gadget play like that and get behind them in the secondary. Harold’s got an incredibly strong arm and can probably throw it 70 yards. There was nothing to lose there. I figured the worst that could happen was that they’d intercept it and we’d have to go down and make a tackle.”

In the second half, NISH added a second touchdown in the third quarter in one of the few long drives by either team that ended in a score. Uriah Joseph, who ran for 91 yards to lead NISH, capped off the eight-play drive with a one-yard run for a 14-0 Yellow Jackets lead.

The Jackets were on the verge of putting the game away but a fumble by Joseph that was recovered by Westgate led to the Tigers’ only score of the night. Westgate used a little razzle-dazzle itself to score as Jordan Abney capped the 16-play drive with a 19-yard touchdown run on a reverse to start the fourth quarter.

But Westgate (1-3, 0-1) couldn’t get any closer as the NISH defense put the clamps on the rest of the way for the win.

“It wasn’t the most poised offensive performance in the world,” said Fine. “I thought we played great defense and our defense gave us a chance to win. We had a chance to make some plays but a few breakdowns and penalties at crucial times cost us.”

For NISH, it was an very emotional game.

“We dedicated the game to Thomas Cleary,” said Hutson. “He’s fighting a brain tumor and we’re going to give him the game ball tomorrow.

“I showed the team the film of his last game here and how he helped us come back from a 21-0 deficit. We told the team to play though the pain, play with heart and overcome no matter how tired you got. Just play till the end. They were moved by what they saw today and the did just that.”