Beats St. Fred 42-7; “The 84 War” this Friday
It was senior night this past Friday night at Guy Campbell Memorial Stadium and the seniors made sure to get victory number three with a dominating performance against the St. Frederick Warriors, winning the game 42-7.
It was the first home game for the Giants since the Quarterfinal matchup with Loreauville back on November 29. During the offseason Guy Campbell Memorial Stadium received another face lift led by coach Russell Dorton and the stadium and field looked incredible on this Friday evening. The weather was perfect and as always, the Jena Giant fans packed the stadium.
The Giants would honor their seniors before the game with the line of seniors stretching from mid field all the way to the track on the home sideline. The Giants would welcome in the St. Frederick Warriors from Monroe. Last season, the Warriors shocked the Giants with a last second field goal to give the Giants their first loss of the season.
The captains for the Giants were seniors Luke Smith, Cale Parker, Bubba Stevens, and Sedrick Wilson. For the second week in a row, the Jena opponent would win the toss and elect to receive the opening kickoff. We assume teams are hoping to keep the high-powered Jena offense off the field by taking the ball first. But for the second week in a row, the Jena defense would force a punt.
The Giants offense would then go 45 yards in 9 plays ending with a Sedrick Wilson 8-yard touchdown run to put the Giants up 8-0. The Giants would then score on a couple of incredible touchdown catches by Zadrien Cooper. The first would be a 25-yard catch where Cooper would bobble the ball in tight coverage and still make the incredible catch. The second would be a 77-yard touchdown catch where Cooper would catch the ball then deliver a vicious stiff arm to the defender to break free for the long touchdown catch. Cooper would finish the game with 3 receptions for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Jena defense would play another great game. Early in the 2nd quarter, St. Frederick would run an option play and would fumble the ball. Junior linebacker Logan Thompson would pick it up and return it 70 yards for a touchdown.
Senior cornerback Zac Brown had a big night on defense as he finished with 6 tackles and 2 pass deflections. Brown would cover the Warriors best receiver and would shut him down in the game.
The Giants defense would hold the Warriors to 189 total yards in the game. They would have a 42-0 lead at halftime and would go on to win 42-7 with a running clock the entire second half.
Daniel Hatcher would lead the Giants with 7 carries for 100 yards and 1 touchdown. Deuce McPherson continues to do a good job taking care of the football. McPherson finished with 134 passing yards and 2 passing touchdowns.
For the second time in three seasons, the Giants have started 3-0. This week the Giants make the trip west on Highway 84 to take on the Winnfield Tigers in what has become known as “The 84 War.”
Winnfield is under new leadership as coach Byron Keller takes over the program this season. Winnfield has started the season 1-2 but any time we make the trip to Winnfield, they always play us tough. So, everyone make the trip over to Winnfield to cheer on the Giants.
If you can’t make the trip then you can hear all of the live action on 102.7 KJNA starting at 6:00 p.m. with the Cajun Seafood and Specialty Meats Jena Giants pre-game 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.
