After back-to-back losses against two undefeated teams, the Minden Crimson Tide went into Friday’s District 1-4A game against Booker T. Washington looking for some momentum heading into the home stretch of the regular season.
They got it. Minden defeated BTW 55-30 at W.W. Williams Sr. Stadium.
The Tide improved to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in district. The Lions dropped to 4-3 and 1-3.
“Overall I thought we played well on both sides of the ball,” Minden Head Coach Spencer Heard said. “I thought offensively, obviously we were able to run the ball really well.”
Minden rolled up 361 total yards with 290 of that coming on the ground, per stats kept for the KBEF-FM broadcast.
Minden’s Caylien Aubrey gained 196 yards on just eight carries. He scored the Tide’s first touchdown on a 65-yard run and the last on a 63-yard run.
Minden jumped out to a 14-0 lead. With the line opening big holes, the Tide was able to run at will.
BTW drove 80 yards for its first touchdown, an 8-yard pass from Vincent Blake Jr. to Vontravious Moore.
Minden quickly answered. The Lions kicked off from the 25 because of a penalty after the touchdown and the Tide returned the short kick to the BTW 31.
Owens scored his second touchdown on an 18-yard run.
On their next possession, the Lions went for it on fourth-and-1 from their 29. The Tide sacked Blake for a 9-yard loss.
Jaden Johnson scored from 8 yards out and Minden led 28-8.
Blake then ran 61 yards for a touchdown. Minden stopped a two-point conversion attempt with 1:26 left in the half.
Minden recovered an onside kick attempt at its 48 and moved to the Lions 33.
Hudson Brown hit Johnson with a short pass and he turned it into a touchdown with 42 seconds left. Braxton Glover’s fifth PAT gave the Tide a 35-14 halftime lead.
A BTW touchdown and two-point conversion late in the third quarter cut Minden’s lead to 15. But Brown scored on runs of 4 and 2 yards after short drives to push the lead to 49-22.
BTW scored against Tide reserves with 14 seconds left in the game.
Heard came away impressed with Blake, who passed for 214 yards and ran for 100.
“Containing No. 11 is a hard task,” he said. “Their quarterback’s very hard to tackle, very elusive. He made plays, got his yards. But I thought we kept him in check about as good as you can.”
Heard was pleased with the play of the special teams. Glover made seven PATs, put the ball in the end zone on kickoffs and averaged 37.5 yards on two punts.
Minden’s kickoff return team recovered all of the Lions’ onside kicks.
“That was huge because that can change a game in a heartbeat,” Heard said. “Just overall I thought our guys played well.”
Owens finished with 59 yards on 10 carries. Brown completed 3-of-4 passes for 51 yards. Johnson had four catches for 57 yards.
Minden hosts Bossier Friday. The Bearkats (3-4, 1-3) lost to Northwood 48-14 Friday night.
Red River 49, Lakeside 21: At Lakeside, the Warriors stayed within striking distance for most of the game against the defending District 3-2A champion Bulldogs.
Lakeside dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in district. Red River, which ended a two-game slide, improved to 3-4 and 1-1.
The Warriors trailed 13-7 early and 28-13 at the half. The Bulldogs extended the lead to 35-13. Lakeside cut the lead to 35-21 before Red River pulled away.
Brock Case threw two touchdown passes to Eric Jones. Kentravion Miller scored a rushing touchdown and two-point conversion.
Red River plays Ringgold (3-4) in its homecoming game Friday. The Redskins defeated Magnolia School of Excellence 36-30 Friday night.
Lincoln Prep 25, Glenbrook 7: At Glenbrook, the Apaches played the District 1-1A game without starting quarterback and defensive back Ryan Reagan.
As they did when Reagan was injured early in Week 6 against Arcadia, freshman Louie Collins and eighth-grader Braxton Tibbitt stepped in for Reagan at quarterback.
The Apaches trailed 13-7 at the half. The Panthers scored on their first possession of the second half to go up 19-7.
It looked like Glenbrook was going to make it a one-score game after eighth-grader Tae Morris intercepted a pass on Lincoln Prep’s second possession.
The Apaches drove from their 35 to a first down to the Panthers 35. Tibbitt hit Gage White for a touchdown but it was erased by an ineligible receiver downfield penalty.
Tibbitt completed a pass to Darron Hollingsworth at the 31 and Carson Whitehead gained 3 yards for a first down.
But on fourth down from the 33, the Panthers intercepted a pass and ran it all the way back to the Glenbrook 21. Lincoln Prep took advantage, scoring the final touchdown of the game.
Hollingsworth caught a touchdown pass in the first half and also had a good night punting. Whitehead also made some tough runs.
Glenbrook (3-4, 2-3) has a bye this week. The Apaches return to action Oct. 30 against Jonesboro-Hodge at home. Lincoln Preo improved to 3-4 and 2-2.
Sterlington 50, North Webster 7: At North Webster, the Knights hung with the defending non-select Division III and District 1-3A champion for a half.
North Webster trailed 15-0. But the Panthers picked it up in the second half and pulled away.
North Webster dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in district. Sterlington improved to 5-2 and 2-0.
The Knights travel to Monroe Friday to play Richwood. The Rams (2-4, 0-1) defeated Lake Arthur 28-14 in a non-district game Friday night.