Dear Editor,

I wanted to thank you for recognizing the students and fans of JHS, particularly the night of October 12th. I was once a Jena Giant decades ago and graduated in 1976. I was the second-string center backing up Ray McKinney when he needed a break. I was second string because we didn’t have enough for a third string. Ray was our 1st string Center and Middle Linebacker playing offense and defense and he regularly needed a break. I was a skinny 145 lbs. and used to hike the ball to our quarterback and my classmate, Darrel McCartney. I played enough to letter but admittedly I was not all that good. But I loved being on the team.

I have lived away from Jena and LaSalle Parish since 1981 due to my military career. I usually get back home to visit family and friends once or twice a year and I always try to attend a football game in the fall. It brings back the nervous excitement I had when taking the field all those years ago. I was there to see Jena take on Bolton. I was shocked to see such a small team across the field. In my day, Bolton was the powerhouse team we always dreaded. They always had lots of big guys ready to grind me into the turf. Like many of the others in the stands around me, I was feeling a bit embarrassed for Bolton’s struggles. It was something like 42 0 after only 6 minutes or so. Then their running back injured his ankle. I could tell from near the top of the stadium that his foot was at the wrong angle. Seeing a very minimal response, I went out on the field to assist. I got his shoe off and assessed the injury and ensured he had good circulation. I assisted with splinting him and getting him onto the stretcher when the paramedics arrived. Then I went and got a burger. I had heard that Darrell McCartney was part of the sideline chain gang and at halftime I went looking for him. We chatted briefly before the second half started. Having also been shocked by the poor attendance on the other side I too decided to go sit on the visitor side for a bit. I was surprised to see 30 or so JHS students arriving right behind me. I chatted with the few parents there and they told me how Bolton was barely a high school big enough to field a team and that most of the players were freshmen and sophomores. They also said that they almost didn’t have a team at all this year. They were mostly junior varsity players on the field with a sprinkling of juniors and seniors. That explained why they looked so small.

The students that were there on the visitor’s side with me truly were cheering on the Bolton team with every yard they made and defensive stop. They weren’t just cheering; they were wildly enthusiastic about it. Our cheerleaders were there as well, and the students were responding loudly to the cheers of both the Bolton cheerleaders and JHS cheerleaders in turn. I also got to experience for the first time the singing of “Country Roads” and saw all the lights from the visitor’s perspective. It was an impressive sea of hundreds of waving lights. I was both impressed and surprised that a song that came out when I was playing on that field as a freshman was having such a resurgence in popularity.

I felt a strong feeling pride to be from Jena when the whole stadium cheered for Bolton’s 4th quarter touchdown. With the divisiveness rampant in our country and the world around us, it was heartwarming to experience and be a part of that moment of genuine comradery expressed for both sides of the gridiron.

James Boyd, MD, MPH, FAsMA Colonel, USAF (Ret.) JHS Class 1976