By Pat Culverhouse
Minden’s defense forced nine fumbles in the game while the Tide offense rolled up 38 first quarter points to outlast West Ouachita 56-36 in a non-conference contest Friday at W.W. Williams Stadium.
Two of those fumbles were returned for touchdowns. Tyree Davis rumbled 35 yards in the big first quarter for a score and Braylen Ferrel sped 39 yards with a recovery in the third as the Tide picked up its third straight win to open the season.
Quarterback Kaiden King had a hand in the first three Tide scores of the night on TD passes of 23 yards to Jaden Johnson and 31 yards to Ian Clark, then on a 10 yard scamper.
King’s contribution put Minden up 22-0 with 7:22 still remaining in the first quarter. He would score again on a 23-yard run at the 4:12 mark in the opening stanza as the Tide built a 38-0 lead.
West Ouachita scored with just seconds remaining in the opening quarter to make it 38-6, then finished off an eight-play, 55-yard drive to bring the score to 38-14.
Another King TD pass, a 31-yarder to to Lucas Owens for a 44-14 Minden lead, was followed by a pair of West Ouachita scores and a 44-28 Tide halftime lead.
Minden extended the lead to 50-28 on Ferrell’s fumble return early in the third quarter, and King’s fourth TD of the night, a 35-yarder to Clark, made it 56-28. West Ouachita closed the high-scoring affair on Kaleb Carprue’s four-yard run with 9:32 left in the game.
King had a big night in the win, throwing for 156 yards with 10 completions in 19 attempts. He also picked up 43 yards on the ground on six carries.
Owens led Tide rushers with 49 yards in 10 tries while Johnson added 15 yards in two carries. Johnson also caught four passes worth 32 yards and one touchdown. Emmanuel Kinsey had two catches for 27 yards, Clark had two catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns and Owens caught one for 31 yards and a score.
West Ouachita’s Carrie led all rushers in the game, picking up 80 yards on 13 attempts. Teammate Drake Cummings netted 73 yards on 13 carries.
Although West Ouachita outgunned the Tide on the night by a 307 to 245 total, Tide defenders came up with big plays when needed. The Tide recovered eight of the Chief’s nine fumbles.
Minden puts its perfect record on the line in a Thursday contest, traveling to Bossier for the kickoff of the District 1-4A schedule. The Bearkats are 2-1 on the young season, taking their first loss last Friday by a 50-8 score to Logansport.