The Jena Giants traveled to Leesville this past Friday night to take on the Wampus Cats in another Central Louisiana Game of the Week. The Giants defense would prove the difference in this game as Jena beat the predicted favorites 4A Leesville 22-20. For the 2nd week in a row, the Giants would be playing in the KALB Game of the Week. These two teams met in Jena last season as the Giants took a 14-0 lead into halftime. Leesville would come back in the second half and score 21 unanswered points to win 21-14. The Giants felt like they let that game slip away last season and had revenge on their minds for this season. The captains for the Giants were seniors Zach Barker, Boots Green, Zerrick Jones and Zy Hunter. The Giants would win the toss and would defer to the second half. Both teams would struggle on offense early as they would both be forced to punt on their first two offensive possessions. Leesville would get on the board first as on their third offensive possession they would go 88 yards in 13 plays ending with a Xavier Ford 1-yard touchdown run on 4th and goal to make it 6-0. The Giants would answer right back as they would then go on a 10 play 55-yard scoring drive, ending with a Zerrick Jones 28-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 6. Leesville would get a long, 54-yard touchdown run from Ford later in the second quarter to make it 14-6. Once again, the Giants would answer as Zerrick Jones would score on a 43-yard touchdown run. Zach Barker would complete a pass to Zy Hunter in the back of the end zone for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14. That would be the score as we went into halftime.
Sports
September 12, 2023
Giants’ Defense Stands Tall