By Pat Culverhouse

A relentless ground attack and a smothering defense propelled the Minden Crimson Tide to its sixth win of the season Friday, a 41-16 victory over the BTW Lions in Shreveport.

Minden rushed for a season’s high 377 yards, with a pair of Crimson Tide runners going over the 100-yard mark. Junior Caylien Aubrey led the way with 135 yards on 12 carries while freshman Lucas Owens piled up 116 on 16 attempts.

Aubrey had two touchdowns on the night and Owens scored once.

BTW scored first in the contest when Jaylen O’Neal scooped up a Tide fumble and sped 66 yards to pay dirt. A Devion Stewart conversion pass to Von’travious Moore put the Lions up 8-0 with 9:03 remaining in the first quarter.

Minden answered with 4:22 left in the first quarter when quarterback Hudson Brown sneaked into the end zone from three yards out, the first of his three short TD runs in the game. Braxton Glover’s kick made it 8-7, and the Tide was just getting started.

Brown scored again from one yard out with 5:25 left in the second quarter to put the Tide ahead 14-8 heading into halftime.

Aubrey picked up a pair of scores in the third quarter when he broke loose on a 33-yard TD run with just over eight minutes remaining, then followed that only two minutes later with a five-yard burst up the middle. That score came following a Kameron Harris interception and Minden led 27-8.

Special teams put BTW back in the game when Vinson Blake, Jr. picked up another Minden fumble and dashed 70 yards for a touchdown. An Aaron Dillard run put the score at 27-16 heading into the fourth quarter.

A pair of fourth quarter scores on Brown’s two-yard sneak and Owens’ 11-yard run put ran the Tide’s season record to 6-1 and 3-1 in District 1-4A play.

Minden’s defense turned in another strong performance, keeping the Lions’ offense out of the endzone and out of Tide territory for most of the contest, with both Lions scores coming on fumble returns. BTW managed just 79 yards of total offense, with 54 of that coming through the air.

Adding to the Tide’s rushing totals were Denarius Crowe with 60 yards on 13 carries, Porter Neal with 37 yards on four rushes and Kaiden Shine with 33 yards on 6 tries.

Through the air, Brown completed three of nine attempts for 21 yards to put Minden’s total offensive output at 398 yards.

Another District 1-4A contest is next on the Tide’s schedule when the team travels to Bossier to take on the Bearkats Friday.