The Minden Crimson Tide watched as the final few seconds ticked off the clock to end the second quarter and send them into the half, trailing 7-6.
They had Loyola right where they wanted them.
The Crimson Tide once again showed their resiliency with another second half shutout defensively, and Antonio Rivette scored on a goal line keeper early in the third quarter to give Minden a third straight victory, 14-7.
Six games into the season, Minden is 4-2 and 3-0 in district. They have trailed at the half in all three of those district wins and given up a combined 6 points in the second half.
“I feel like our defense made some adjustments after the first couple of series,” Tide coach Spencer Heard said. “I thought they played great in the second half and came up huge on a fourth down and two. They really rose to the occasion.”
Loyola started the game with an early 7-0 lead following a Ray Shepherd touchdown. Minden High would answer with a beautiful touchdown pass from Antonio Rivette to L’Jarius Sneed to make it 7-6 in favor of Loyola.
The two teams traded punts for the rest of the first half, taking Minden into the half without the lead.
The Tide appeared to like it that way.
“Some people have the ability to rise to the top when a big situation comes up,” Heard said. “These guys
can handle it. They come out and do it week after week.”
In the second half, Minden didn’t waste much time, putting together a nice drive that consisted of a long pass to Kelcey Miller and some tough running by Rivette and fellow sophomore Kolby Jackson.
Rivette would take in the go ahead score from one yard out and then find Miller in the left corner of the endzone for the two-point conversion, making the score 14-7.
The Tide were able to shut Loyola down the rest of the way and then put together an impressive clock killing drive to seal the deal and send Minden fans into a frenzy.
“Our defense was huge in this ballgame,” Heard said. “I think Coach Ensminger has done such a great job preparing our guys to play against whatever offense we go up against. The defensive line especially stepped up tonight.”
Antonio Rivette led the offense with 217 yards passing and one touchdown to L’Jarius Sneed. Rivette added 39 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Rodtravion Rogers led the running backs with 28 yards and Kolby Jackson added 21.
Tavarius Edwards had four clutch receptions for 102 yards to pace the receivers. L’Jarius Sneed had two catches for 29 yards and a first quarter touchdown.
The Tide will travel to North Desoto next week for another huge district showdown.