The Jena Giants traveled to Tioga for their final non-district game of the regular season last Friday night and it would be a rough night for the Giants as they suffered one of their biggest loses in years by the final score of 65-26.
This would be the 32nd meeting between the two teams with Tioga leading the series 18-13. Jena came into the game with a three-game winning streak in the series and were looking to pick up some momentum going into district play. They also traveled to the Reservation with a record of 3-1 after a dominating win over the Winnfield Tigers while Tioga came in 1-3 after picking up their first win of the season in the week prior against Richwood.
But Tioga’s record shouldn’t have fooled anyone. They had played one of the tougher schedules in the area losing at Sterlington and Leesville.
The captains for the Giants were seniors Zach Scales, Colten Sharp, Triston McLendon, and Jacob Belcher. Tioga would win the toss and would elect to defer to the second half.
Jena would receive the opening kickoff and would put together a dominant 13-play, 73-yard drive, ending with a Daniel Hatcher one yard touchdown run to go up 6-0. The Giants would have the ball for half of the 1st quarter as they took off 6 minutes of the clock during the drive.
Tioga would answer right back though with a 10 play, 58-yard scoring drive to take a 7-6 lead. In the 2nd quarter Tioga would get another score on a 1-yard Kenny Ponthier run to increase their lead to 14-6.
The Giants would come back with a 7 play, 80-yard scoring drive ending with a Daniel Hatcher 1 yard touchdown run. Deuce McPherson would find receiver Zadrien Cooper on a slant route for the two-point conversion and the Giants would tie the game at 14. From that point, Tioga would take over the game as they would score 17 unanswered points to end the 2nd quarter and take a 31-14 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Tioga would receive the opening kickoff and the Giants would desperately need a stop to try and get back into the game. They would not get it though as Tioga would score 21 unanswered points to start the quarter and increase their lead to 52-14. The Giants would get a couple of touchdown passes from Deuce McPherson to Zadrien Cooper for 17 yards and 14 yards, but Tioga would be too much on this night as they would go on to win 6526.
Tioga would improve to 2-3 on the season while Jena would fall to 3-2.
Daniel Hatcher would lead the Giants offense with 15 carries for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sedrick Wilson had 22 carries for 105 rushing yards. Deuce McPherson finished with 10 completions on 16 attempts for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns. Zadrien Cooper had 4 receptions for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns in the game.
Jacob Belcher led the Giants defense with 10 tackles in the game. Triston McLendon also had 9 tackles in the game.
The Giants will now enter district play as they will travel to Marksville Friday night to take on the Tigers. Marksville is much improved from where they were the last two years. Both teams will come into the game with 3-2 records and will look to start district play with a win.
Everyone is encouraged to make the trip south to Marksville to cheer on the Giants. Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m. If you are unable to make it then you can hear all the live action on 102.7 KJNA starting at 6:00 pm with the Jena Giants 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.kjnafmjena. mixlr.com.
