SHREVEPORT – The Minden Crimson Tide looked like a team ready to compete for another district championship against the Captain Shreve Gators on Friday.
The Tide and Gators took turns playing offense and defense to start the show, followed by a 12 minute live quarter. While neither team managed to score in the live period, the Tide were impressive, moving the ball well on offense and intercepting five passes on the night.
Heard gave the offense a positive review.
“Overall, I was pretty pleased,” head coach Spencer Heard said. “I thought Antonio Rivette played well. Tavarius Edwards had a very good game. All of our backs did a good job and on the line we looked bigger and more aggressive.”
On defense, things were even more crisp, with Minden dominating the action.
“They look like a group that’s got a year under their belt together,” Heard said. “I thought Zi’Kerrion Baker had a good game. They had a hard time blocking him. Cameron Morgan had a big game with an interception and some big hits. Ty Harris stepped up and showed he’s ready to play.”
The action was highlighted by an incredible one-handed interception by L’Jarius Sneed. Sneed took the ball almost 80 yards for a touchdown, but a flag happy officiating crew brought it back for a block in the back.
Despite the many positives he took from the scrimmage, Heard said there’s plenty of work to be done before week one.
“I want us to be better in our play action game,” Heard said. “I thought Tony (Rivette) could have carried out his fakes better and gotten a little more depth on his rollouts, but we talked about it after the game. Also, there were some penalties we need to get taken care of, but overall I was very pleased.”
Minden will be back in action Friday night under the lights of The Pit, as they welcome Haynesville to town for the Pineland Jamboree.
That game will kickoff immediately following the North Webster/Rayville contest.
North Webster
SPRINGHILL – The Knights welcomed the Raiders of Huntington High School to town for their scrimmage, and head coach John Ware was pleased with the result.
“We pretty much stuck with our base stuff,” Ware said. “We did what we wanted to do running the ball. Jalen Smith is as good as anybody, and Xavious Eason did well when he was in there.”
Ware thought the offensive line performed well minus a few small mistakes, but believes that unit will be a strength.
Defensively, Ware said the Knights were sharp besides a broken play that went for a touchdown.
“The quarterback for Huntington was very good,” Ware said. “They got one big pass on him scrambling around, but the defense played very well. We didn’t tackle as well as we can, so we have to be a little better there, but we have another chance to fix those things before week one.”
The Knights will face a talented Rayville team on Friday, as they open things up at the Pineland Jamboree, at 7 p.m. in Minden.