This past Friday night the Jena Giants and the Winnfield Tigers would meet in another battle of The 84 War, a long-time rivalry between two high schools located about 35 miles of each other on US Highway 84.
This would be the 63rd matchup between the two teams with Winnfield having 37 wins and Jena having 23 wins in the series. There were also two ties in the series. Jena would come in with a 3-0 record and looking to stay unbeaten. Winnfield would come in with a 1-2 record and on a two-game losing streak. The Tigers have a new coach this year in Byron Keller who had been assistant at Winnfield in the past. The captains for the Giants were seniors Sedrick Wilson, Bubba Stevens, Cale Parker, and Luke Smith. Jena would win the toss and would defer to the 2nd half.
The Jena defense has played lights out the past two weeks as they have only given up 10 points in the last two games. The defense would once again set the tone early as they would force Winnfield to punt on their first four drives of the game.
The Jena offense came into the game scoring 54 points per game and only having punted one time on the season. The offense would stay hot as running back Daniel Hatcher would put the Giants up 6-0 with a 40-yard touchdown run.
Late in the 1st quarter, quarterback Deuce McPherson would hit receiver Zadrien Cooper in stride with a 55-yard touchdown pass to put the Giants up 12-0.
In the second quarter, Sedrick Wilson would score on a 4-yard touchdown run to increase the Giants lead to 20-0. Winnfield would finally get on the board in the second quarter as Detavious Williams would score on a 60-yard touch- down run to make it 20-6. The Giants would answer right back though as Daniel Hatcher would score his second touchdown of the night on a 7-yard touchdown run.
Late in the 2nd quarter, Deuce McPherson would deliver a long and beautiful pass down the Jena sideline to Zadrien Cooper who would make the catch for a 68-yard touchdown to put the Giants up 36-6. Winnfield would score before half to make it 36-14 at halftime.
In the second half, the Giants would get a couple of more scores as Sedrick Wilson would score his second touchdown of the night and Daniel Hatcher would score his third touchdown of the night to put the Giants up 52-14. Winnfield would score a touchdown late to make the final score 52-22.
With the win the Giants improve to 4-0 on the season. Quarterback Deuce McPherson finished 6 for 11 with 175 passing yards and 2 passing touchdowns. Receiver Zadrien Cooper finished with 4 receptions for 146 receiving yards and 2 receiving touchdowns.
On defense, linebacker Cash Richerson had 9 tackles in the game. Defensive lineman Trey Gaines had 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack. Linebacker Brian Evans had 6 tackles and a tackle for loss.
The Giants’ win sets up a huge matchup this Friday night in Jena. The undefeated Jena Giants will take on the 3-1 Tioga Indians. This has been a good matchup the last ten years, but last year Tioga blew out the Giants in a surprise outcome.
Both teams look to be contenders in their divisions this season and this will be the game of the week in the Cenla area. Both teams come into the game with two of the best offenses in the state as both teams are averaging over 40 points per game. What does this mean? This will be one game you will not want to miss! Get to the stadium early and be loud throughout the game to cheer on the Giants to victory.
If you can’t make it to the game then you can hear all of the action live on 102.7 KJNAFM starting at 6:00 p.m. with the 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.
