MINDEN — Trailing late Friday night, Franklinton’s Martavius James picked off Minden quarterback Antonio Rivette near the 20-yard line and followed a wall of blockers down the field for the go-ahead touchdown. Demons quarterback Tahj Magee found Azende Magee in the end zone for the two-point conversion to take a 35-28 lead.

However, the Tide drove down the field to pull within a successful extra point attempt of tying the game with less than a minute remaining. But the kick never made it off the ground, as the Demons’ sideline went into a frenzy, and No. 10 Franklinton knocked off No. 7 Minden, 35-34.

“Our kids have a lot of belief, resolve, fortitude — whatever you want to call it,” said Franklinton head coach Shane Smith. “Our kids talk all the time about there being no doubt. Now in that situation there was a little doubt in everybody’s mind, but we found a way.”

Renaz Wilson led the rushing attack for the Demons (9-3) with 111 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns. Azende Magee added 109 yards on the ground on 15 carries. The team rushed for 280 yards in the game.

“They say to accomplish what you want to, sometimes you have a playoff game like this,” Smith said. “Hopefully tonight was that one, because we found a way and we’re advancing.”

The Tide (9-3) had a one-point lead with the ball in Demons territory facing a fourth-and-6. That’s when James intercepted Rivette and navigated his way down field for a touchdown.

“I knew they were going to come out in the flats and I just played my ground, picked it off and kept running,” James said. “We had our backs against the wall, we faced adversity, but we came out and got the W.”

Kevin Connelly of The Shreveport Times wrote this story.