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Red Level (0-0) will start the 2024 football season an hour away from home at J.F. Shields (0-0) in the season opener for both schools on Thursday, August 29, at 7 p.m.

Kenny Skipper begins his eighth season at the helm of the Tiger program he grew up playing for. Jerome Antone is in his second year with the Panthers and sixth year overall.

“We really don’t know a lot about J.F. Shields coming into this week but have looked at film from last year. We feel they will be a very athletic team like they normally are,” Skipper said. “We will have to do a good job of knowing where we are supposed to be on the field and making sure we are doing our job.”

This will be the 17th meeting between the two teams and first in three years. The Tigers have an all-time 10-6 series lead over the Panthers. In the last meeting, Red Level routed J.F. Shields in convincing fashion, 49-6, in 2021.

Despite not playing last week, Skipper said practice has gone well leading up to the first game.

“Our last five or six practices have been good. This is a fun group to be around, and this team is very coachable. You couldn’t ask for more than that. We will be playing several young guys that had to step up in certain positions,” he said.

Coming into the season, the Tigers would like to be more physical than they were a year ago.

“We did not do a very good job last year with the physical aspect of the game. That was a point of emphasis for us as we were making preparations for this season. Our guys have done a good job of trying to become prepared for that physicality and getting in that mindset,” Skipper said.

Skipper added that J.F. Shields contacted him about moving the game from Friday to Thursday due to a shortage of officials.

“We will lose a day of practice, but at the same time, we did not play in week 0. Our guys are ready to get the season started. Even though we lost that extra day, I hope it will not have a bearing on the game itself and don’t believe it will.”

Red Level finished last season with a 2-8 record, while J.F. Shields went winless at 0-10.