The Minden High Crimson Tide was back home in The Pit Friday for their opening game of district play against Woodlawn.
There was a large home crowd in attendance to see the Crimson Tide take on the Knights and much to their delight Minden overcame a 20-14 halftime deficit to beat Woodlawn 40-20 and move to 1-0 in distrct.
The Crimson Tide defense pitched a shutout in the second half and sophomores Antonio Rivette and Kolby Jackson had big games offensively to pace the Crimson offense.
Second year head coach Spencer Heard was pleased with the way his team battled back in the second half after trailing at the break.
“I was very proud of the way we came back in the second half,” Heard said. “At halftime I told them to just keep doing their jobs. We made a couple adjustments defensively that worked out and we started moving the ball really well.”
Minden had another big game on the ground, as the Tide continue to rack up rushing yards in bunches. Leading the way with four rushing touchdowns was Antonio Rivette from the quarterback position.
“We had some miscues offensively in the first half that put is in some negative situations,” Heard said. “We grew up a lot in the second half I thought. Antonio made some great reads on the option, Kolby Jackson had some great runs, Tavarius Edwards made some good catches and the line was blocking well tonight. Overall I’m very proud of that unit.”
The game turned at the start of the fourth quarter. Already leading 28-20, Minden forced a Woodlawn fumble. Two plays later Rivette broke loose for a 42 yard score on an option keep.
Trailing by two scores the Knights had to throw the ball and with four minutes to play L’Jarius Sneed picked off a Woodlawn prayer and broke a tackle on the home sideline before racing back across the field for a 79 yard return for touchdown.
Rivette finished the game 6-11 for 50 yards, with 16 carries for 121 yards and four touchdowns. Kolby Jackson had 94 yards and a TD and Rodtravion Rogers had 74 yards on just 10 carries. Tavarius Edwards led the receivers with 28 yards on three catches.
Minden’s next game will be against undefeated Fair Park on the road.
“Fair Park is a good team,” Heard said. “The have a lot of athletes and a quarterback who is a three year starter and a great player and leader.”
Minden will look to move to 3-2 and 2-0 in district with a win.
A special thanks to Mark Chreene and KASO Radio for stats.