The Minden Crimson Tide (7-2, 5-1) are still riding high from their 43-40 victory over the North DeSoto Griffins.
One could argue that this was the Tide’s biggest win yet under third year head coach Spencer Heard, as he continues to build the Minden football program into an annual contender in Class 4A.
People outside of the area have begun to take notice of the Tide, with the Louisiana Sports Writers Association moving the Tide into the No. 10 spot in their Class 4A rankings.
It’s the Tide’s first top 10 appearance in nine years, and Heard said it’s nice to be recognized on the state level.
“Anytime you can get to that place it speaks to what these kids and our coaches are doing,” Heard said. “It means that outside of our area people are beginning to take notice of us and what we’re working towards. We’re starting to gain some respect across the state.”
The Tide still have one game left on their regular season schedule against a much improved Woodlawn team, and if Heard and the Tide want to be taken seriously and have a shot at a deep playoff run, a win Friday against the Knights is essential.
“I told the guys on Friday to enjoy this win over North DeSoto, because it’s a big win for our program,” Heard said. “But we can’t get too caught up in it. Woodlawn is a huge game if you look at the power points. At this stage of the game, a loss can drop you significantly in the rankings.”
Woodlawn (6-3, 4-2) enters this week’s game fresh off a 36-12 win over Fair Park. Woodlawn employs a spread attack, led by senior quarterback Treveion Youngblood and a sophomore sensation at running back, Trivensky Mosley.
“We just have to mix it up in terms of coverage and fronts,” Heard said. “We’ve done a good job at that all year. Our defensive staff does a good job of keeping guys from getting comfortable. I think this week we have a good game plan, we just have to play sound football.”
Minden has been very sound of late.
The Tide are averaging 35.5 points per game since the start of district play, led by the play of junior quarterback Antonio Rivette and senior wideout L’Jarius Sneed.
Since missing the first three games of the season due to injury, Sneed has been arguably the best player in the area. Over the last six district games, Sneed has 38 touches and 13 touchdowns, meaning he scores every three times he gets the ball.
Rivette has thrown for 1302 yards and 14 touchdowns and leads the Tide in rushing as well with 461 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
The two high-flying offenses should make for a fun showdown.
Additionally, Minden will celebrate senior night prior to kickoff.
“It’s a very good group of seniors,” Heard said. “They’ve done a very great job of leading and it’s definitely going to be an emotional night for them. I know they want to end the regular season with a bang. I’m pretty close to a lot of these guys and I’ll be emotional too. Hopefully we end it on a good note.”