The Minden High Crimson Tide is back to work this week following a tough road loss to North DeSoto.
There weren’t many positives to take away from the game. The usually stout Crimson Tide rushing attack was grounded and the Minden defense wore down in the fourth quarter after holding up as long as they could.
The loss snapped Minden’s three game winning streak, but Minden has a chance to rebound in a huge way this week against the Benton Tigers.
“I feel like we’ve had a couple good days of practice,” Heard said. “Everyone’s been upbeat. Maybe you wouldn’t expect that after a loss like we had, but I feel like these kids are ready to rebound and get after it on Friday night.”
In order to pull off the upset, the Tide has to regain their edge offensively. Against the Griffins a lack of execution and an abundance of turnovers doomed them.
“I felt like our defense played really well,” Heard said. “We have to eliminate the turnovers. We were minus three in turnovers. Part of that was on me taking too many deep shots and some of it was just taking care of the ball. Hopefully we learn from that and find some ways to be consistent running and throwing the ball.”
Consistency is something that the Benton defense knows all about. The Tigers have consistently stifled their opponents this season. Opponents are averaging just under 10 points per game against Benton.
“They have a veteran defense,” Heard said. “I think they have nine or 10 seniors on that defense. They line up very well, they read their keys very well, make very few mistakes and really get to the ball and tackle well. It’s going to be a challenge but we have to take the game plan and execute it. Hopefully we get some points on the board.”