By Whitman McGee
Rarely does the coach of a team that lost its season opener by three touchdowns have to temper expectations for its second game, but that’s one of the challenges facing Minden High School football coach Spencer Heard.
The Crimson Tide, which fell at home 45-14 last Friday to a potent Parkway team, is back at W.W. Williams Stadium in Minden Friday night to host Green Oaks.
The Giants took it on the chin even worse last Friday, blown out on the road in Monroe by Carroll’s Bulldogs, 45-0.
Don’t take the Giants lightly, though, warns Heard. Last season they mimicked Minden’s outstanding 2020 campaign, making a state playoff quarterfinal appearance while finishing with a 7-3 record.
“They’re a good team, ” Heard said. “They’ve got some explosive players, especially at the receiver position. “We’re gonna try to do a good job in the secondary to contain those guys.”
Although things didn’t pan out in the opening game, Heard was proud of his group’s effort, if not the performance.
“We fought until the end, played hard, and showed resiliency.”
Heard has preached efficiency to the Tide and says that if Minden can improve on the basics, “I feel good about our chances.”
The last matchup between these two teams dates all the way back to the 2004 season. Minden, coached at the time by now Glenbrook Head Coach David Feaster, was looking for its fourth win in a row after beginning the season with a loss to Haughton. The Tide posted a 15-point win at home, when seniors on this year’s squad were in diapers.
Now, 17 years later, these two unfamiliar opponents square off again with both teams looking to get back on the right track.
Coach Heard feels that the first game jitters have come and gone, telling the Journal, “As the game wore on you saw them calm down a little bit and I think a lot of that (anxiousness) is going to be gone after last week. I think they’ll just go out there and let their talent shine through.”
Local fans are encouraged to make it to “The Pit” — W.W Williams Stadium at MHS – for Friday’s 7 o’clock kickoff. Radio coverage of the Crimson Tide is available at 104.5 KBEF.
