Matt Vines

MONROE — The Red River football program will take part in one of the premier football slates in the state when they to Bayou Jamb at ULM’s Malone Stadium.

The Bulldogs will battle Jonesboro-Hodge on Saturday at noon, part of a five-game schedule that day and eight-game jamboree over a two-day period.

Saturday is the last chance for a preseason tune up before regular season play begins the next week.

Jonesboro-Hodge is a usual District 3-2A opponent for Red River, but the Tigers moved down to Class 1A because of enrollment size.

Fans will get acquainted with new faces as the Bulldogs must replace 14 seniors from this past season. The team won three games against a brutal schedule, but the program was competitive each week and built a double-digit lead against No. 7 Pine in the first round of the playoffs before eventually falling.

Red River’s three wins came consecutively, including one against Jonesboro-Hodge.

There will be some names that Bulldog fans should know very well — Jomello McDonald and Warren Bowman are part of an impressive secondary and will attempt to carry momentum from a basketball team that reached the Division III Non-Select state championship game this past season.

Keller singled out the secondary as a unit for their play over the spring and summer.

Saturday’s trip to Monroe will begin a theme of longer road trips this season, something that Keller did intentionally to prepare his team.

The regular season starts at Catholic-Pointe Coupee with trips to Oak Grove, White Castle and Pineville on the docket this season.

For fans looking to get the most out of their Bayou Jamb ticket, they can settle in for a long day of football. St. Frederick and D’Arbonne Woods get started at 10 a.m., followed by Red River and Jonesboro-Hodge at noon, Jena and Many at 4 p.m., Neville and Ruston at 6 p.m. and Evangel-West Monroe at 8 p.m.