By Daniel Green | BWS Sports

BATON ROUGE — The Leesville Wampus Cats had another stellar season under the guidance of head coach Robbie Causey.

The Cats not only won the 100th all-time meeting with the DeRidder Dragons, but Leesvville also secured an undefeated district championship in 2021.

And as a result, eight members of the team were named honorable mention on the Class 4A all-state squad as chosen by a panel of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

On the offensive side of the ball, Leesville was represented by running back Caleb Gallashaw, offensive lineman Mason Fitzgerald and wide receivers Ke’Mhari Pruitt and Daveion Grubb.

Defensively, the Cats chosen honorable mention were defensive lineman JaShawn Mabry, defensive back D.J. Beebe and linebackers Caden Bealer and Frank Ford, III.

Three players from Leesville’s district were named first-team all-state, including DeRidder’s Ronnie Crosby at kick returner and the Peabody duo of offensive lineman Greg Knox III and running back Arthur Lavalais.

But it would be Class 4A state champion, Westgate, to sweep all of the superlative honors bestowed by the LSWA on the team.

Standout skill athlete Jordan Doucet was named the Offensive Player of the Year, while Derek Williams was honored as the Defensive Player of the Year. Ryan Antoine, who guided Westgate to the state title, was named Coach of the Year.

Westgate took a very improbable route to the state title, beating traditionally strong teams in Leesville, Warren Easton and Edna Karr to hoist the championship trophy.