For the second year in a row the Jena Giants hosted a quarterfinal playoff game this past Friday night. The #7 Giants welcomed in the #15 Loreauville Tigers to Guy Campbell Memorial Stadium. It would be a capacity crowd on hand to cheer on the Giants as they looked to make it to the semifinal round for the second consecutive season. The captains for the Giants were seniors Jacob Belcher, Triston McLendon, Zach Scales, and Colten Sharp. For the third straight game, the Giants would win the toss and would defer to the 2nd half.
Loreauville would take the ball on the first offensive possession of the game and would march it down the field 64 yards in 5 plays ending with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hayden Benoit to Gavin Judice to put the Tigers up 7-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Giants would fumble the ball and Loreauville would recover as the visiting fans would erupt in cheers. But the Giants defense would do what they have done all season and would stand tall as they would force a turnover on downs to give the ball back to the Giants offense.
On the Giants first offensive possession they could not get anything going as they would be forced to punt on a three and out. With Loreauville seemingly having the momentum on their side the Giants would need a big play to give them a spark. The Giants defense would step up and do just that as senior outside linebacker Cameron Bond would tip a Loreauville pass into the air allowing senior middle linebacker Jacob Belcher to intercept it. This would seem to spark the Giants offense as they would go 56 yards in 6 plays ending with a Sedrick Wilson 3-yard touchdown run. The Giants would not get the 2-point conversion and Loreauville would hold on to a 7-6 lead.
The Giants defense would force Loreauville to punt on their next drive and the Giants offense would take advantage as they would go 80 yards in 6 plays ending with a Sedrick Wilson 19-yard touchdown run to give the Giants their first lead of the game at 12-7. But Loreauville would answer right back with a 5 play, 64-yard scoring drive as Maddox Savoy would score on a 13-yard run to put Loreauville up 14-12 going into halftime.
The Giants would get the ball to start the second half and would once again go three and out to give the ball back to Loreauville. Loreauville would march the ball 60 yards in 9 plays but the Giants defense once again would come up with a stop as they would get a turnover on downs. On the Giants next drive, they would get a big 62-yard run by Daniel Hatcher to set the Giants up with a 1st and goal situation. Sedrick Wilson would then score his 3rd touchdown of the night on a 2-yard run to put the Giants back ahead 18-14.
In the 4th quarter, Loreauville would have the ball two more times with two great opportunities to score and take the lead. Both times the Giants defense made clutch plays. On the first drive of the 4th quarter, Loreauville would have the ball at the Jena 5 yard line and would fumble the snap as senior middle linebacker Triston Mc-Lendon would recover it to stop the scoring threat. Then with about 5 minutes left in the game Loreauville running back Maddox Savoy would have a big run inside the Jena 10yard line but as senior cornerback Amare Jackson went to tackle Savoy the ball would fall to the ground and Jena linebacker Jacob Belcher would pick it up and return it to around the 40-yard line. It would be a game saving play as it appeared that Loreauville was going to score and take the lead. The Giants offense would then run out the last 5 minutes of the game to give the Giants an 1814 victory.
With the victory the Giants, for the second year in a row, will move on to the semifinal round where they will travel to Sterlington this Friday night to take on the Panthers with the winner moving on to the Superdome for the state championship.
Daniel Hatcher would lead the Giants with 14 carries for 131 rushing yards in the game. Hatcher is averaging 156 rushing yards per game in the playoffs for the Giants. Sedrick Wilson would finish with 21 carries for 89 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. Wilson is averaging 108 rushing yards per game in the playoffs for the Giants.
Linebacker Triston McLendon would lead the Giants defense with 10 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and a fumble recovery in the game. Defensive lineman Colten Sharp would have a big game for the Giants as he would finish with 7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 fumble forced and 1 sack.
This group of seniors also tied the class of 2019 seniors for most career wins as this was their 39th career win. This group of seniors will have a chance this Friday night to pick up their 40th career win and punch their ticket to the Superdome for the State Championship. It should be a great game Friday night and it’s not a bad trip so everyone make the trip north to Sterlington to cheer on the Giants. Sterlington won at Oak Grove 43-39 to earn their place in the semifinals. Kickoff will be at 7:00 pm this Friday night.
If you can’t make it to the game then you can hear all the live action on 102.7 KJNAFM starting at 6:00 with the Jena Giants 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.kjnafmjena. mixlr.com.
Photos from the game:
