MANDEVILLE �” With 32 yards of open field and a ticket to South Lafourche in the second round of the playoffs awaiting at the other end, Westgate’s Duvall Jackson had only one thought.

“I was just thinking what I was going to do when I got into the end zone,” said Jackson, whose interception return of a John Wenzel pass proved to be the difference in the Tigers’ 21-14 win over Mandeville in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Friday night at Sidney Theriot Stadium.

MHS (7-4) had its six-game winning streak snapped.

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Jackson tipped Wenzel’s pass in the flat, grabbed the ball in midair and ran untouched for the winning points with 6:12 left in the game.

“I read the play and had good vision,” said Jackson, a sophomore defensive lineman. “I just put my hands up, tipped it up and looked for the ball. Then I just broke.”

“I was thinking about my celebration (during the run),” he added.

“He tipped the ball to himself and ran it in,” Westgate coach Brian Fine said. “That was a big play for us.

“It was a big night for our defense. They played exceptional.”

The loss was especially difficult for the Skippers, who led 14-0 late in the first half, and still seemed to be in control even after a Westgate score with 13 seconds left in the second quarter cut the halftime lead to 14-6. But the Tigers (7-4) sold out to the blitz in the second half, a strategy that allowed Westgate’s linebackers and defensive backs free runs at Wenzel.

The Skippers’ quarterback was seemingly being hit on every play, and the pounding began to take a toll. Wenzel, who had completed 10 consecutive passes to end the first half and extended the streak to 13 early in the third quarter, threw three second-half interceptions, including the game-clincher with 1:59 remaining.

“It’s certainly disappointing after you blow a 14-0 lead,” Mandeville coach Guy LeCompte said. “It’s disappointing to the kids.”

“We expected (the blitz,)” he added. “We didn’t handle it well. We lost our starting left tackle (Matt Dombrowski) and we shuffled some players around. That was the whole difference in the game.”

After throwing an interception on his first attempt, Wenzel finished the first half 10 of 12 for 120 yards. But he completed just three of his final 12 passes on his way to a 25-of-39 performance for 290 yards and four picks.

“That’s too many,” LeCompte said of the 39 attempts. “When they put more in the box than you can block you have to throw it. There was too much pressure on him.”

Sophomore Sean Zemke caught six passes for 112 yards for the Skippers.

As expected, Westgate’s stalwart backfield tandem of quarterback Diontae Spencer and running back Brandon Malveaux led the Tigers. Although the duo mishandled two exchanges that led to Mandeville’s touchdowns, they accounted for all but eight of Westgate’s 180 rushing yards.

Malveaux had 91 yards on 21 carries and Spencer had 81 yards on 20 carries. Spencer also completed four of 12 passes for 51 yards.

“Those two guys make the plays for us,” Fine said. “We made a couple of plays in the passing game and that kept us alive a couple of times.”

Sam McGivern recovered both of the Spencer-Malveaux miscues, allowing the Skippers to take a 14-0 lead. The first came at the Westgate 30-yard line, three plays after the Skippers’ Charles Jones had been stuffed for a five-yard loss on fourth-and-one at the Tigers 18.

Two plays after McGivern’s recovery, Westley LaBorde scored on a three-yard run to give Mandeville a 6-0 lead with 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, McGivern pounced on another muffed exchange from Spencer to Malveaux, stalling a Westgate drive at the Mandeville 33-yard line.

The Skippers took advantage of the turnover with an 8-play drive, culminating in Jones’ seven-yard scoring run and a Wenzel to Chris Houlemard 2-point conversion that increased the lead to 14-0 at the 1:54 mark of the second quarter.

But the Tigers, who were held without a first down in the first quarter, suddenly found life in their sleepy offense and drove 70 yards in seven plays, the big play being a 19-yard Spencer to Fred Joseph hookup that carried to the Mandeville 3. Four plays later, Spencer’s four-yard run cut the Tigers’ deficit to 14-6 with 13 seconds left in the half.

Mandeville drove deep into Westgate territory to start the third quarter but the drive stalled when Jones was thrown for a five-yard loss and the Skippers were forced to punt from the Tigers’ 30-yard line.

Westgate took advantage of a 24-yard Wenzel punt that gave the Tigers possession at the Mandeville 40 to score the tying touchdown.

Malveaux’s three-yard run and Spencer’s 2-point conversion tied the score at 14 with 11:57 left in the fourth quarter.

Jones was held to 25 yards on 17 carries, a reflection of Mandeville’s struggles on the ground. The Skippers finished with 38 rushing yards.

“The blitz allowed us to get a little more pressure than in the first half,” Fine said.

“But I think being able to stop the run was important. Any time you make somebody one dimensional, it plays into your hands.”