Jena starts season 1-0 with 64-48 win
For the fourth straight year, the Jena Giants opened up their football season against the Mangham Dragons. This game has turned into a decent little rivalry the last couple of years with the games coming down to the wire. The last two seasons the Giants have defeated the Dragons by a combined margin of 6 points.
These two teams are also two of the best in their classes as the last two years both teams have made deep runs in the playoffs. So, with all of that said, it was no surprise that KNOE out of Monroe and the K104 Downs Law Friday Night Scoreboard Show would make this game their “Game of the Week.” Both teams return a lot of star power on offense and look to make deep runs again this year.
The captains for the Giants were seniors Sedrick Wilson, Luke Smith, Cale Parker and Bubba Stevens. The Giants would win the toss and would defer to the second half. Mangham would get the home crowd on its feet early as start sophomore quarterback Colby Casey would pass to freshman phenom KJ Bell on a screen pass that would go for an 80-yard touchdown pass to put Mangham up 7-0. Jena would muff the kickoff and Mangham would recover, setting up Colby Casey to score on a 28-yard touchdown run. And just like that, the Dragons were up 14-0.
The Giants would then turn the ball over on an interception giving the Dragons the ball at midfield. It would seem as though Mangham was about to blow out the Giants. The Jena defense though would force Mangham to punt, and the Giants offense would take over. The Giants would go on a 5-play, 60-yard scoring drive ending with a Sedrick Wilson 4-yard touchdown run to put the Giants on the board at 14-8. From this point in the game the Giants would score on 8 straight drives and would get the 2-point conversion on every drive as well. Mangham would answer the Giants’ first scoring drive with an 85-yard kick return for a touchdown by Reggie Roberson to give the Dragons a 21-8 lead.
In the second quarter, the Giants would get a 52-yard touchdown pass from Deuce McPherson to Sedrick Wilson to make the score 21-16. Once again Mangham would answer quickly as they would score on a 23yard touchdown run by Willie Randolph. Jena would answer with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Deuce McPherson to Adrian Sharp to make it 2824.
Late in the second quarter, it would appear that there wouldn’t be much time for one score much less two scores. But on this night, the way both offenses were executing, both teams would score a touchdown in the last minute of the half. Mangham would score on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Colby Casey to Rayon Bell to make it 36-24. With 25 seconds left in the quarter most fans thought it wouldn’t be enough time for Jena to answer. The Giants would do just that though as senior quarterback Deuce McPherson would make a perfect throw to senior receiver Zadrien Cooper who walked into the end zone with a 56yard touchdown catch to make it 36-32. That would be the score going into halftime as both teams wore out the scoreboard.
In the second half, senior running back Sedrick Wilson and the Giants offense would take over the game. Wilson would have touchdown runs of 33, 47 and 96 yards in the second half. It seemed as though on every play in the second half, a Mangham defender would go down dealing with cramping.
The Giants would pretty much wear out the Dragons for the rest of the game as they would go on to win 64-48. The Giants offense would finish with 26 first downs, 487 rushing yards and 617 total yards in the game.
Sedrick Wilson would have one of the best offensive performances in Jena High School history. Wilson finished with 29 carries for 325 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. He also had a reception for 52 yards and a touchdown. This would be the 2nd most rushing yards in a single game in school history. Deuce McPherson would finish the game with 130 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns. Daniel Hatcher finished with 23 carries for 110 rushing yards and a touchdown.
On defense, Jonas Jenkins would have an interception late to stop a Mangham scoring threat. It would be a dominant performance in the second half by the Giants as they would look like they could run all night while Mangham continued to have players leave the game with cramps.
With the win, the Giants improve to 1-0 on the season and will now set their sights on the Menard Eagles. Menard defeated Northwood-Lena 42-0 to start their season 1-0. This Friday night, the Giants will travel to the Eagles Nest to take on Menard. Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m. If you can’t make it to the game, then you can hear all the action live on 102.7 KJNA starting at 6:00 p.m. with the Cajun Seafood and Specialty Meats 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.mixlr.com/kjnafm.
