For the third straight season the Jena Giants played for a chance to make it to New Orleans and play for a state championship. The last two seasons the semifinals in Division III Non-Select have had the same four teams – Jena, Union Parish, St. James and Sterlington. The only team out of those four that had not won a semifinal game and played for a state championship was the Jena Giants.
Two years ago, the Union Parish Farmers ended the Giants season in Jena and last year the Giants season came to an end in Sterlington. This season the #12 Union Parish Farmers would make the trip to take on the #1 Jena Giants with a trip to the Dome on the line.
All week prior to this game, fans were excited and buying up noise makers preparing to be as loud as possible. Union Parish came into the game after pulling off two upsets as they beat undefeated #5 Erath in the 2nd round and then undefeated #4 Kinder in the quarterfinals. The Giants came into the game after they took care of business beating #17 St. Helena in the 2nd round and #8 Mansfield in the quarterfinal round.
The Giants have played Union three times in recent history, losing twice in the 2nd round at Union Parish and then two years ago in the semifinals. From the time that Jena Head Coach Jay Roark took the job the goal has been to play for a state championship. Everyone would know that to be taken seriously as a program that the team would have to beat one of the premier programs in the state. Union Parish was making their 7th trip consecutive trip to the semifinals so they definitely qualify as a premier program.
The captains for the Giants were seniors Sedrick Wilson, Luke Smith, Bubba Stevens and Cale Parker. The Giants would win the toss and would elect to kick off to start the game. Two years ago, when Union Parish defeated Jena, the Giants had the ball first and fumbled on their opening drive. Union Parish would recover and return it for a touchdown. The Giants would never recover from that. This year the Giants would get off to a great start. The Giants defense, which has been awesome in the playoffs, would force Union Parish into three and outs on their first two drives. The Giants offense, which has been unstoppable all season, would once again get the job done. The playcalling was perfect and the execution was even better.
On the Giants first drive they would go 63 yards in 10 plays ending with a Daniel Hatcher 2 yard touchdown run. On the 2nd drive Giant quarterback Deuce McPherson would hand the ball off to running back Sedrick Wilson who would then throw the ball down the field to receiver Zadrien Cooper for a 32-yard completion. Wilson would then score on a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Giants up 14-0.
Union Parish would answer back with a Braxton Patterson 63yard touchdown run to make the score 14-6.
In the second quarter Deuce McPherson would fake a handoff and roll to his right and find tight end Adrian Sharp for a 56 yard pass. McPherson would then run the option to perfection as he pitched the ball to Sedrick Wilson who would score on a 5-yard touchdown run to put the Giants up 22-6. The Giants would then get a 31-yard touchdown run from Sedrick Wilson on a draw play that completely fooled the Farmer defense. The Giants would take a 30-6 lead into halftime.
In the second half the Giants would receive the opening kickoff and the goal was to have long time consuming drives. The Giants would do that on the first drive as they go 56 yards in 15 plays. The drive would not end in a score but it took up over 9 minutes off of the clock in the 3rd quarter. The Giants defense would shutdown the Farmers in the second half. Jena would get the ball back with around 4 minutes left and would run the clock out by getting first downs.
The Giants would defeat Union 30-6 to move on to their first state championship appearance in school history. The capacity crowd would flood the field as the party would start and last well into the morning. This would be the 41st win for the senior class which is the most by a class in school history. This was also coach Roark’s 15th playoff win. Sedrick Wilson would lead the Giants with 24 carries for 167 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns while also throwing a pass for 32 yards. Wilson also went over 2,000 yards on the season becoming only the 2nd running back in school history to accomplish the feat.
Daniel Hatcher finished with 26 carries for 129 rushing yards and 1 rushing touchdown. Seniors Xavier Brown and Jesse Love led the Giants defense with 7 tackles each in the game. Brian Evans Jr. also had 5 tackles, 1 sack and 1 tackle for loss.
With the win the Giants now move on to the Division III Non-Select State Championship to take on the #2 Sterlington Panthers. Last year, Sterlington defeated Jena 48-14 in the semifinal round before going on to defeat St. James in the state championship. This will be only the second matchup between the two teams.
The two teams will play on Friday, December 12, at 3:30 p.m. in the Ceasars Superdome in New Orleans. There will be no school on Friday and all of Jena is expected to make the trip down.
If you are not able to make the trip then you can hear all the action live on 102.7 KJNAFM starting at 3:00 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.
