Two state runner-up teams met last Friday night, but it was the Jena Giants who walked away with the win.
Jena opened the Louisiana high school football season with a 26-12 victory over the Mangham Dragons, overcoming a tight first half before taking control with a dominant rushing attack and a defense that frustrated one of the state’s most dynamic returning quarterbacks.
Both Jena and Mangham entered the season coming off state championship appearances in their respective divisions last year, making Friday night’s matchup an early-season measuring stick for two teams with championship aspirations.
The Giants led 8-6 at halftime, but Jena’s ground game wore down the Dragons in the second half.
Jena finished the night with an impressive 360 rushing yards on 55 carries, while recording 20 first downs. Mangham managed 172 rushing yards on 31 carries and finished with 10 first downs.
Junior running back Kaeden Kittlin led the Giants’ rushing attack with 23 carries for 148 yards and a touchdown, while senior running back Daniel Hatcher delivered another outstanding performance with 25 carries for 135 yards and three touchdowns.
Hatcher’s performance continues what could be a historic senior season. The Jena standout is now a little more than 1,100 yards away from breaking the school’s career rushing record, giving him an opportunity to leave his name at the top of the Giants’ record book before the season ends.
Jena’s offense consistently put together long, methodical scoring drives. The Giants produced scoring drives of 11 plays for 60 yards, nine plays for 80 yards, 10 plays for 61 yards and nine plays for 91 yards.
While the Jena offense controlled the clock, the Giants’ defense took care of the other side of the ball.
Mangham returned junior quarterback Colby Casey, who had torched Jena in last year’s 64-48 shootout. Casey accounted for 278 passing yards, 130 rushing yards and five total touchdowns in that game.
Friday night was a completely different story.
The Jena defense held Casey to just 50 passing yards and 93 rushing yards, preventing the talented quarterback from taking over the game.
Senior safety Logan Thompson and junior middle linebacker Hayden Deville paced the defense with nine tackles apiece. Thompson also had a 37-yard run on a fake punt that was deep in his own territory and kept a key scoring drive going in the 3rd quarter.
Cornerback Jonathan Willis came up with a crucial interception late in the game to help put the Dragons’ comeback hopes to rest.
The defensive performance was especially impressive considering the weapons Mangham brought back from last season. Along with Casey, the Dragons returned sophomore wide receiver KJ Bell, who had five receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown in last year’s meeting with the Giants.
This time, Jena’s defense kept both players from producing the type of numbers they did in the previous matchup.
With the victory, Jena starts the season 1-0, while Mangham falls to 0-1.
Jena won’t have to wait long for another major test.
The Giants will travel to Sterlington this Friday for a rematch of last year’s Division III Non-Select state championship game. Sterlington defeated Jena in that championship matchup, making Friday night’s game an opportunity for the Giants to return to the scene of last year’s disappointment and make an early statement in 2026.
Meanwhile, Mangham will look to bounce back at home against Caldwell.
Jena and Sterlington both had big wins in week one and will be looking to start the season 2-0. Last week, Sterlington beat Franklin Parish in Winnsboro 42-30.
Next week’s trip to Sterlington will be a great early season test for the Giants. If you can’t make it to the game remember you can watch all of the action live at www.jenagiantnetwork.com starting at 6:30 p.m. with the pre-game show.
