By Matt Vines, Journal Sports

The Red River football has accomplished about all it could hope for this regular season.

The Bulldogs (5-4) won their first district title since 2005 with four victories in District 3-2A, the last three of which occurred in utterly dominating fashion.

Red River is set to host a first-round home playoff game as the Bulldogs sit at No. 12 in the Division III Non-Select power ratings.

So what’s on the line when Red River visits an Oakdale (3-6) squad in non-district play that’s fighting for their own playoff lives?

It’s basically a dry run for a playoff road game in which Red River will travel southeast of Alexandria.

And considering that longer road trips were a key focus of coach Byron Keller after the Bulldogs coughed up a large halftime lead on the road last year, Friday’s road trip carries plenty of importance.

Red River lost its first four road games of the season at Catholic-Pointe Coupee (26-6), Oak Grove (55-8), White Castle (48-30) and Pineville (32-20).

“God has a plan. Everything played out this season the way it was intended,” Keller said of the early road struggles. “We had to go through the early struggles and learn lessons to improve and get to this point.
“Our kids are confident and ready because we have faced some of the toughest teams in the state.”

A win would guarantee Red River a winning record in the regular season for the first time since 2021.

A victory could also also shoot the Bulldogs up a couple spots in the playoff rankings, possibly avoiding a top-six team (Union Parish is currently No. 6) until the quarterfinals instead of the second round.

But first – Oakdale.

The District 5-2A member has played better of late, logging wins in two of their last four games.

Oakdale topped Holy Savior Menard (13-0) and Port Barre (33-14) in its last two wins with losses to a really good Kinder bunch (41-13) and Avoyelles (32-20).

“Oakdale is another example of a team that plays quality football,” Keller said. “They are a heavy run and ball-control team, so we have another opportunity to play an opponent who will prepare us and test us going into the playoffs.

“I think we have perfected our road trip itinerary this season. A road trip for us right now is no big deal.”

Red River started the season with more of a ball control philosophy, but its recent blossoming on offense means that the Bulldogs have created explosive plays and scored in bunches.

The development of quarterback Malique Smith and the health of receiver Jomello McDonald have paired with a bevy of weapons like Montreveun Smith and Warren Bowman to allow Red River to attack defenses in various ways.

Red River’s offensive explosiveness hasn’t hampered its defense in the least as the Bulldogs have allowed just eight points per game in the last four contests.