By Whitman McGee
The Minden Crimson Tide (3-5) took care of business on the road last Friday night, beating the struggling Bastrop Rams by a final score of 39-14.
After snapping their 4-game losing streak, the Tide are right on the cusp of their 8th straight post-season appearance.
This week will, in all likelihood, prove to be the deciding factor in Minden’s playoff bid as the Tide prepares to square off with the 7-1 Huntington Raiders.
Minden will have their hands full dealing with Huntington’s high-powered offense.
After falling to the Byrd Yellow Jackets in their season opener, the Raiders have won 7-straight games, out-scoring their opponents by an average of 47 points.
Minden Head Coach Spencer Heard spoke on Hunnington’s offense, saying, “Their quarterback (Kameron Evans) is very talented; he has a good arm and can run.”
Heard added, “They’ve got a lot of skill guys on offense, which is evident based on the amount of points they score on people.”
Heard also alluded to the Raider defense, noting that they were very energetic and get to the ball well.
Minden leads the all-time regular-season series against Huntington 17-8.
The Tide have won the last 7 meetings, spanning from 2012-2019, with 2020’s matchup being canceled due to Covid-19.
For this week’s player spotlight, Coach Heard highlighted the play of senior LB/RB Kentravion Lister, “He had a really good game last week at linebacker and also came in and had some very good production on offense at running back.”
Lister selflessly took on the role of linebacker midway through the 2020 campaign providing a spark to the Tide’s defensive unit. When given the opportunity on offense, Lister has proven he is still as reliable as they come, represented last week by his 75-yard rushing performance.
Some other individual offensive statistics from last week’s game include: Daylen Robinson 141-yards rushing with 2 touchdowns, Andrew Cooper 71-yards rushing with 3 touchdowns, and Zedekiah Harris with a rushing score from 16-yards out.
Defensive highlights include Jakobe Jackson’s game-sealing interception and D’Quontrez Ridley’s sack.
Coach Heard emphasized the magnitude of this game, telling The Journal, “From a power points stance, this is a really huge game because of the number of wins that they have. Beyond that, it’s an important game, it’s a district game, and it’s senior night.”
Heard concluded by saying, “We just want to go out there and give our best effort, play with intensity, and get after it.”
The stakes can’t be any higher for the Heard’s group on Friday night, so if you are able, be sure to come out and support the Tide in their final home game of the regular season.
If you can’t make it to W.W Williams Stadium “The Pit” on Friday night, you can tune in to 104.5 KBEF for radio coverage and analysis of the game.
