JJHS vs. Monterey Wolves 10/13/2026

Postgame Interview with Ms. Daisy, JJHS Girls Basketball Head Coach:

After last night's game, what do you think you are going to focus on in practice?

“I feel like we did good overall, there are a lot of things we can work on.  I think we are going to just focus on cleaning up everything, making sure that we are ready for the next game.”

At the beginning of the season, you said that you were expecting big numbers from Ashya and Lydia.  Are they playing up to their expectations?

“I think they are but the thing is, Ashya is doing well on defense, she is aggressive but we need to clean up her layup.  Lydia, on the other hand, hasn’t been able to play lately because of different reasons.  However, the time they had the chance to shine they did good so I would say so.”

Last question, after these last few games, has your confidence level of this season changed?

“No, I think the girls are still going to play hard.  They are hungry for winning and I think they will work hard for that.”  

JJHS 8th Grade Boys Basketball Recap:

It was electric in the Jena Jr. High gym, the game started off hot with a 3 from Caden Taylor.  The boys came to play the first quarter however, they died during the second and first quarter.  The boys let Monterey gain the lead of one point, then Coach Chad said, "put this game away!”  The boys locked in and played ball, they gained the lead back with the score 28 to 25. 

JJHS Football VS. Winnfield Tigers

The Jena Jr High Football won against Winnfield last night. This year the 8th grade football team went undefeated and will get a banner with their name on it in the gym. This is the first time since 2021 that they have gone undefeated. The 8th grade won 38-8 and the 6-7 grade team won 16-8. The first play the defence got in they got an interception. The MVP’s of last night game were Brycen Russel #9 for offence and Tucker Hartie #18 with an interception. One of the best plays that were played last night was BUBBLE. 

-Jonah Jones

JJHS Basketball vs. Montgomery- Thursday, October 8, 2026

Both the boys and girls teams played in last night's matchup against the Montgomery Tigers. The boys played a 7th grade and 8th grade game. 8th grade boys lost our basketball game 28 to 36, but it was a super close and exciting matchup. No single player went crazy and scored a ton of points; instead, everybody scored a little bit, and those small buckets really started to add up. That total team effort gave them a ton of momentum, and they almost actually came back at the very end. Even though time ran out and the team couldn't quite get the win, it was awesome to see how everyone contributed to give a real fighting chance. 7th grade boys won their game 13-9. Defense held the Tigers well, only allowing them to score nine points the entire game. Offense struggled early in the game but made adjustments in the second half and game back scoring 13 points. There were huge performances by Tyran Brown who and Gage Crooks. 8th grade girls finished their game with a final score of 15-6. Ashya Ward led in the first quarter scoring 6 points. 

Basketball Season Begins

JJHS Lady Giants vs. Brame Lady Gators

continued...

Postgame Interview with Coach Daisy: 

The JJHS Lady Giants fell last night to the Lady Gators with a final score of 22-39 against Brame.

When asked about last night's game, I asked Coach Daisy what she felt that the team needed to work on and what aspects she felt great about. She replied that they need to work on getting the ball down to the post and executing the plays.  Coach also stated that she was proud of the hard game they played, it was a very challenging team and they gave that hard team a challenge.  In her words, "there are good losses and bad losses and that one was a good loss". 

-Mason Evans

JJHS Football vs. Vidalia-September 29, 2026

This Week the Jena Jr High Football team played Vidalia away and we won 24:8 8th grade!  The 7th graders won their game 14:8!  The people that scored were Darren Brown, Chance Dangerfield who scored 2 touchdowns.  The Giants stopped Vidalia’s offence really well and Ky Allen had many tackles.  The team's Dog Defence  worked really well tonight.  The Dog defence is the best defence that our team can put together with players from both sides of the ball.  The MVP’s for offense are Darren Brown and Chance DangerField.  As I previously stated they both scored touchdowns and chance caught many passes and Darren showed resilience by running the ball up the middle many times and never getting tired.  The MVP on defense is Leron McGuinness  who had a great game, he had many tackles and was a real asset for us winning this game.  Our Line Backers also helped the team a lot.  They got many sacks for helping the team.  The offence worked really well tonight.  Around halftime Vidalia started to get tired so the offense ran the ball up the middle for most of the plays and Vidalia’s defense could not do anything.  The Offensive line worked really well together and blocked really well.

-Jaxson Farmer

JJHS Football vs. Tioga- September 17, 2026

The game starts off hot, Tioga scores but defence stops the two point conversion. The Giants responded to that with Brycen Russell with the throw to Chance Dangerfield for the first touchdown for the Giants, but we didn’t get the two point conversion.  With the team now hyped, the defence pulls through and stops Tioga’s offence with a fumble recovery touchback!  The offence then pulls through scores with a run by Chase Jones.  However, the offence didn’t get the 2-points conversion making the score board 12-6 Giants.  With the team now locked in, the Giant’s defence didn’t let their offence score again that night.  With the defence stopping Tioga from scoring it was halftime.  With the offense now refreshed, they went out and got a third touchdown with a reverse run play to Chance Dangerfield and the 2 points the scoreboard was 20-6.  After that with turn over on downs again, the defence gives their offence another chance to score.  The team was hyped and the offence was ready to shut it down.  Brycen Rusell passes to Gavin Norris for his 1st touchdown in the season besides a scrimmage.  The refs blow the whistle meaning the game is over.  The Giants dominated and the score was 28-6!  The Giants streak continues as the Giants are 4 and 0!  GO GIANTS!!!

-Mason Evans

JJHS Football vs. Caldwell Spartans

JJHS VS. Pineville Rebels-September 1st, 2026

JJHS Giants vs. Pineville Rebels

MVP’S of the game: Ky Allen for defense and Caden Taylor for offense.

This week we had our 2nd Home Game against the Pineville Rebels. The 7th grade played 5 minute quarters, and unfortunately lost 0-14.

In the 8th-Grade game we played 8 minute quarters. Our defense was off to a bad start at the beginning of the 1st quarter, getting scored on first play. Near the end of the first quarter, Chase Jones scored our first touchdown, and we got a 2-point conversion, which resulted in a tie game(8-8). In the second quarter, Chance Dangerfield scored, and got a lead that we carried for only a short time. After Pineville tied the game, Caden Taylor scored, and we got another 2-point conversion in the 3rd quarter making the score 24-22. After our defense stopped them from scoring, Darren Brown scored our last point, and got the 2-point conversion in the final seconds of the fourth quarter securing our victory. The final score was 32-22. 

This is the full recap of the Jena Giants vs.  Pineville Rebels game. 

GO GIANTS!!!!!!!

JJHS VS. GRANT -August 27, 2026

JJHS Jamboree August 20, 2026

JJHS Giants Vs. LaSalle Tigers Scrimmage 8/13/2026

Our JJHS Football Team had their opening scrimmage on August 13, 2026 against the Lasalle Tigers. It was evident that our Giants have put in a lot of hard work throughout the summer. This game gave the opportunity to put the skills they have learned into live competition. It also allowed our coaches a chance to identify what areas worked well and those that need improvement. Our team will definitely be fun to watch throughout this season.

GO GIANTS!!!!!!

Addi Mitchell

Photos provided by: Barrett Keene