Jena and Menard have been familiar opponents for each other as the two teams have met 37 times in the school’s history. Menard has defeated Jena 24 times in those matchups. The two teams would meet again this past Friday night in their first matchup since 2014. Both teams would come in 1-0 as Menard blew out Northwood- Lena in week one while Jena won a tight game against Mangham to start the season.
The captains for the Giants were seniors Colten Sharp, Jacob Belcher, Triston McLendon and Zachary Scales. Menard would win the toss and would elect to receive the opening kickoff.
The Jena Giants defense came into the game focused on getting stops and getting off the field. They did just that as in the first half Menard had the ball 5 times and on 3 of those drives were forced to punt on 3 and outs. On the other two drives Menard would turn it over on downs.
The Giants offense would come out on fire as they would score on their first four possessions of the game. The Giants would get a four-yard touchdown run from Cameron Koch, a 43-yard touchdown run from Sedrick Wilson, a 9-yard touchdown run from Daniel Hatcher and a 62-yard touchdown run from Sedrick Wilson to give the Giants a 30-0 lead late in the 2nd quarter. The Giants would have one more possession with around a minute left in the 2nd quarter. Menard defensive back Austin Parra would intercept a pass and return it 25 yards for a touchdown to get the Eagles on the board. The Giants would take a 30-6 lead into halftime. The Giants defense would hold Menard to 79 yards of total offense in the first half.
In the 2nd half, the Giants would get the ball first and would not let up. Jena quarterback Deuce McPherson would find receiver Brayden Oakes for 52-yard touchdown pass to put the Giants up 38-6.
The Giants would add a couple of more touchdowns as Daniel Hatcher would score on a 50-yard touchdown run and then Kairi Richardson would score on a 6-yard touchdown run to put the Giants up 52-6. The Giants defense would not give up a touchdown in the game and the Giants would go on to win 52-6.
Jena senior outside linebacker Cameron Bond would lead the Giants defense with 10 tackles and 3 tackles for loss in the game. Triston McLendon and Jacob Belcher would also have 9 tackles in the game.
Jena running back Sedrick Wilson would have another big game as he finished with 7 carries for 141 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Daniel Hatcher finished with 4 carries for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. Deuce McPherson would complete 4 passes on 8 attempts for 99 yards and a touchdown.
For the second year in a row the Giants are off to a 2-0 start. This week they will travel to Monroe to take on the St. Frederick Warriors. St. Frederick is a private school not far from the campus of ULM and located on the opposite side of US 165 from ULM. The Warriors are 1-1 on the season and will be looking to pick up their second win of the season.
Everyone is encouraged to make the trip up to Monroe to cheer on the Giants as they look to stay undefeated. Kickoff will be at 7:00 pm.
If you can’t make it to the game then tune in on 102.7 KJNA to hear all the live action starting at 6:00 pm with the pre-game show. If you are not in the listening area then you can tune in by downloading the MIXLR app and searching for KJNAFM or go online at www.kjnafmjena.mixlr.com.
