WESTLAKE — Khris Watkins made the big play when the Jennings Bulldog defense needed it. Watkins deflected Ryan Feagin’s 2-point conversion pass attempt with 12 seconds remaining to give Jennings a 41-40 District 4-3A victory over the Westlake Rams on Friday night.

“They went for two against DeRidder and won the ballgame, and I figured they would again this time,” said Jennings coach Rusty Phelps. “I’m proud of the kids and coaching staff that we kept battling and held on at end when Khris (Watkins) made that big play.”

The Rams (4-3, 1-1) trailed 41-27 with 10:33 remaining before making a furious comeback. The Rams cut the lead to 41-34 when Tyler Johnson was on the receiving end of a 27-yard scoring pass from Feagin with 5:06 remaining.

After recovering a Bulldogs fumble, the Rams final drive started with 2:59 remaining. A big run by Devin Eaglin and a long pass from Feagin gave the Rams the ball on the Bulldogs 2-yard line with 53 seconds remaining. Two false-start penalties pushed the Rams back, but they converted a 12-yard pass from Feagin to Jacory Washington.

“We finally broke a 14-point deficit from the start of the ballgame,” said Westlake coach Max Caldarera. “From that point on we felt we should go for two and end the game right there, and if we would have got the two I would be a genius right now.”

Jenning’s Dylan Lavergne finished with four touchdowns and 229 yards on the ground.

Jennings (5-2, 1-1) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. The Bulldogs opened the game by driving the field 68 yards to score on a Lavergne 9-yard run with 9:47 remaining. After forcing the Rams to punt on their second consecutive drive, Jennings took advantage and scored on the next drive. Lavergne scored his second touchdown when he scored on a 10-yard run with 9:47 remaining in the second quarter to take a 14-0 lead.

The Rams took advantage of a Bulldogs turnover by recovering a fumble on the Bulldogs 38-yard line. A 32-yard pass from Feagin to Tim Hamilton gave the Rams the ball on the Bulldogs 6-yard line. Eaglin scored two plays later on a 2-yard run to cut the Bulldogs’ advantage to 14-7.

Jennings looked to put Westlake out of the game early by scoring its third touchdown of the first half. Jaylon Boutte connected with Watkins on a 67-yard pass to give Jennings a 20-7 lead with 3:43 left. Westlake answered when Eaglin scored his second touchdown of the quarter on a 41-yard run to cut the Jennings lead to 20-14.

The third quarter saw the scoring go back and forth. Lavergne score his third touchdown on a 2-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 27-14 lead on the first drive of the quarter. The Rams answered on the ensuing drive when Feagin connected with Justin Nordberg on an 18-yard pass to trail 27-21. The Bulldogs answered when Tre Richardson scored on a 3-yard run to boost the lead to 34-21 with 44 seconds left in the third quarter.

Lavergne’s fourth touchdown came with 10:33 in the fourth quarter when he scored on a 61-yard run.

Eaglin finished with 208 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Feagin finished with 174 passing yards and three touchdowns.

“Eaglin is a tough running back and is hard to stop and is going to make yardage,” Caldarera said. “The passing game did very well tonight and in which we needed it to do well.”Westlake Running Back Devin Eaglin runs for a TD late in the first half against Jennings.

Kirk Meche