For the 12th straight season, the Jena Giants were playing a playoff game this past Friday night. Before this streak started, I’m pretty sure if you would’ve told someone that this would be the future of the program that they would’ve probably laughed in your face. But here we are with the Giants once again trying to make another run in the playoffs.
The Giants finished the regular season with a 7-3 record as they were the District 2-3A runner-ups. That record earned the Giants the #7 seed in the Division III Non-Select state playoffs. The bracket called for the Giants to host the #26 Caldwell Spartans in the first round. Caldwell finished the season 1-9 but that one win came in week 10 and got them just enough power points to make it into the playoffs.
This would be the fourth matchup between the two teams in the last two seasons. Last season the Giants defeated Caldwell in the regular season and in the second round of the playoffs. This year the Giants defeated Caldwell in week nine.
The captains for the Giants were seniors Triston McLendon, Jacob Belcher, Colten Sharp and Zach Scales. The Giants would win the toss and would defer to the second half.
The Giants would quickly take control of the game as the defense would get a quick three and out forcing Caldwell to punt. Jena would then go on a 4play, 56-yard scoring drive ending with a Sedrick Wilson 33-yard touchdown run to put the Giants up 8-0.
On the next kickoff, Caldwell struggled to field the ball and Jena senior Blayne Shivers would recover the ball giving the Giants excellent field position. On the very next play quarterback Deuce McPherson would find receiver Brayden Oakes on a hitch route. Oakes would break multiple tackles to get in the end zone while nearly getting his helmet ripped off his head. There would be a personal foul facemask penalty called but the effort by Oakes was impressive to get in the end zone and get the touchdown. The Giants would lead 16-0.
The Giants defense would completely shut down the Caldwell offense as they would not allow the Spartans to get a first down until their third drive of the game. The Giants would then get two big runs from running back Daniel Hatcher as he would have touchdown runs of 71 and 85 yards to put the Giants up 32-0 late in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Caldwell would drop back to pass and would throw an interception to cornerback Amare Jackson who would return it for a touchdown to put the Giants up 40-0. The Giants would get one more touchdown in the half as Daniel Hatcher would score his third touchdown of the night on a 32yard run to put the Giants up 46-0 going into halftime. The second half would be a quick one as the clock was running the entire half. The Giants would get one more touchdown in the fourth quarter as running back Kairi Richardson would score on a 7-yard run to make the final score 52-0. This would be the 12th playoff win in school history for the Giants.
Daniel Hatcher would finish with 6 carries for 206 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jacob Belcher led the Giants defense with 8 tackles in the game. Xavier Brown had 5 tackles in the game.
The Giants now move on to the second round where they will host the #23 Port Allen Pelicans. This will be the first matchup between the two teams in football. Port Allen finished the season 4-6 but don’t let the record fool you. Port Allen played a very difficult schedule coming out of District 6-3A in Baton Rouge. The Pelicans will be battle tested and pulled off a big upset in the first round defeating #10 Church Point 16-7. It should be a great game with a lot at stake.
The Giants are playing for a chance to make it to the quarterfinal round in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. We need Guy Campbell Memorial Stadium to be rocking Friday night so everyone make plans to be there and be loud from the start. It’s atmospheres like this that can really affect a team that’s not used to being in it.
If you can’t make it to the game then you can hear all the action live on FM 102.7 KJNA starting at 6:00 p.m. with Jena Giants Pre-game. If you are not in the area then you can download the MIXLR app and search for KJNAFM or go online at www.kjnafmjena.mixlr.com.
Photos from the game:
