Journal Staff
A pounding running game combined with a swarming defense proved to be the right combination as Minden smothered the Woodlawn Knights 36-6 on Senior Night Friday to end the regular season and District 1-4A play on a high note for the Crimson Tide.
Friday’s win also sealed Spencer Heard’s place in Tide history as the winningest head coach in school history. Heard picked up his 64th career victory, surpassing the late Elton Kelly who had 63.
Junior running back Dunovan Robinson had his second consecutive 100 yard-plus game, rushing for 133 yards on 21 carries with a pair of touchdowns to lead a Tide attack that totalled 252 ground yards for the night. Senior Jakobe Jackson added 92 yards on 14 attempts with three touchdowns as the Tide controlled the clock and the game.
Minden drew first blood when Robinson bulled his way to paydirt from eight yards out to cap a seven play, 58-yard scoring drive. A two-point conversion pass from Hudson Brown to Maurice Rabb gave the Tide an 8-0 lead with 2:56 remaining in the opening quarter.
After an interception at the Knights’ 10-yard line killed an early second quarter Tide drive, Woodlawn set off on a six-minute scoring march that ended when quarterback Isaiah Kennedy scored on a two-yard run. A failed two-point conversion try ended the Knights’ scoring.
Minden responded quickly when Jackson took the ensuing kickoff at his 20 and returned it to the Woodlawn 41. Five plays later, Jackson scored on an eight-yard scamper to give the Tide a 14-8 lead when the two-point attempt failed. A key play in the scoring drive was a Brown 21-yard scramble from the Woodlawn 28 for a Tide first-and-goal.
Jackson’s nine-yard run for his second TD of the game ended a 10-play, 60-yard drive to open the third quarter. Robinson and Jackson swapped carries on the march, and with 6:30 remaining in the quarter Minden was up 22-6.
A pair of fourth quarter scores on nine-yard runs from Jackson and Robinson put the final tally at 36-6 and gave the Crimson Tide its third win of the season against seven losses. In District 1-4A, the Tide finishes the year at 3-4 and will await the outcome of games throughout the state to see if the season will continue into the playoffs.
While Jackson and Robinson were combining for 225 rushing yards, Brown was picking up 15 yards on three carries and Cameron Mitchell was adding eight yards on two carries. Brown also had 63 yards through the air on a three-for-five passing night with one interception. Mitchell was responsible for all the catches and passing yards.
Minden’s defense continued to show late season improvement, bottling up a Woodlawn offense built on speed and finesse. Tide defenders gave up only 160 yards of total offense and kept quarterback Kennedy under control. Kennedy, the Knights’ primary offensive threat, finished the night with just 104 combined passing and rushing yards.
