Tigers fall 7-0 to Franklin Parish at Bayou Jamb

Jonesboro-Hodge showed improvement but mistakes at critical times resulted in the Tigers coming up short by a 7-0 margin against Class 4A Franklin Parish in the Bayou Jamb played on Saturday at Joe Aillet Stadium on the campus of Louisiana Tech.

It was a tale of two halves.

In the first half it was all JHHS. The Tigers dominated the first 12 minutes of action by running 16 plays to just 4 for Franklin and controlling the ball for all but 1:01 of play. Unfortunately the Tigers were unable to score any points following a pair of interceptions that near the goal line that allowed Franklin Parish to escape unscathed.

The second half was a different story.

he Tiger defense forced a three and out resulting in a punt that gave JHHS the ball at their own 17 yard line. Disaster struck again on the Tigers first offensive play of the second half when Franklin forced a fumble giving them the ball at the JHHS 27 yard line. The JH defense stood tall, but on the 14th play of the short drive, hampered by a pair of penalties on third and short situations, Franklin managed to score on a fourth and goal situation for the only score of the game.

“You can’t make the kind of mistakes we made and expect to win,” said disheartened head coach Terrance Blankenship. “We are going to have to clean things up quickly if we are going to accomplish what we hope to do.”

There were several positives that the Tigers can take away from the contest. One was the effectiveness of the rushing attack that chewed up 95 yards on the ground led by Ed’Tavious Drayton who led JHHS with 56 yards rushing on 12 attempts. Another was the play of the offensive and defensive front line that for most of the game dominated Franklin Parish.

Following the contest, Dominick Strickland was named the Tigers Most Valuable Player. As result Strickland, who played both offensive tackle and defensive end was awarded a $250.00 check that was sponsored by Academy Sports.

JHHS opens the regular season next Friday with a road trip to Lake Providence where they will take on defending District 2-2A champion General Trass. Game time is set for 7:00pm.