Dylon Davis (8) picks up a fumble he forced on a huge blind-side hit on the Mangham quarterback and returns it for a touchdown during the comefrom- behind win Friday night in Jena. Also shown is Head Coach Jay Roark celebrating in the background. Jena won the game 34-32.
Above, Jacob Pentecost (41) takes down a Mangham player as Cameron Bond (84) moves in to assist.
At left, Hunter Spence (12), Demariyon Hammock (11) and Dylon Davis (8) tackles a Mangham Dragon.
Jacob Belcher (3) had one of the hardest hits in years for Jena football as he leveled a Mangham ball carrier during the game last Friday.
Triston McLendon (2) takes out the legs of the big Mangham running back to bring him down as William Stevens (78) and Colton Sharp (99) finish him off during the first game of the season last Friday night.
Player of the Week Zerrick Jones (7) casually strolls into the endzone for a two-point conversion during the game against Mangham.
The Jena High School Student Section was the loudest itâÂÂs ever been during the home opener last Friday night.
JHS Player of the Week
Stats and Scoring SummaryThe Jena Giants returned home to play their first game of the regular season this past Friday night as they welcomed the Mangham Dragons to town.
Mangham defeated Jena in week one last season 36-14. The Giants would have revenge on their minds as they looked to start the season with a win.
The captains for the Giants were seniors Zy Hunter, Zerrick Jones, Zach Barker, and Boots Green.
Mangham would win the toss and would elect to receive the opening kickoff. The Dragons would start the game on an impressive 15 play 82-yard scoring drive ending with an Isaiah McFarland touchdown run to give the Dragons an 8-0 lead.
The Giants would quickly answer back with a 3 play, 51-yard drive ending with a Zerrick Jones 43-yard touchdown run to make the score 8-6.
On Mangham’s next drive, quarterback Austin Lively would drop back to throw but would be hit from his blind side by Jena senior outside linebacker Dylon Davis to record a sack. The hit was so hard it forced the veteran quarterback to fumble. Davis would then scoop up the loose ball return it for a touchdown and give the Giants a 14-8 lead. Mangham would then get a couple of more touchdown runs from McFarland and would take a 24-14 lead into halftime.
The Giants would come out in the second half facing a 10-point deficit and would get an interception by senior safety Jacob Pentecost to set the Giants up with excellent field position.
Three plays later, Zach Barker would find Zy Hunter on a comeback route who would then go 27 yards for the touchdown to make the score 24-20.
Mangham would answer right back as McFarland would score his fourth touchdown of the night to put the Dragons up 32-20.
But the game was not over as the Giants would answer with a 58yard touchdown run by Zerrick Jones to get within six at 32-26.
Midway thru the fourth quarter the Giants defense would force Mangham to punt deep in their own territory. Demariyon Hammock would field the punt and return it 50 yards to the Mangham one yard line. On the next play, Zerrick Jones would score his third touchdown of the night. Jones would then add the two-point conversion and the Giants would lead 34-32.
Mangham would have a couple more opportunities to take the lead but the Giants defense would stand strong as Jena would go on to win 34-32.
Zerrick Jones would finish the game with 24 carries for 182 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.
Zy Hunter would have 3 receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown in the game. Jacob Belcher and Dylon Davis would lead the Giants defense with 7 tackles each. Davis would also have two tackles for loss, a sack, and fumble recovery return touchdown.
The game was the KALB TV Game of the Week for Central Louisiana and it lived up to that as the two teams went back and forth with big plays for both teams throughout.
The Giants are now setting their sights on week two as they will have to travel to Leesville. The Wampus Cats came back from a two-touchdown deficit last season to defeat the Giants 21-14. The Giants will once again be looking to get revenge for the loss last season.
Kickoff will be at 7:00 pm. If you can’t make it to the game then you can tune in on 102.7 KJNA to hear all the live action starting at 6:00 pm with the pregame show.
If you are not in the listening area then you can download the MIXLR app and search for KJNAFM or go online at www.kjnafm.mixlr. com.
