The Jennings Bulldogs didn’t let a season-opening loss to Iowa get them down. They turned that loss into a five-game win streak going into today’s District 3-3A showdown with South Beauregard.

The Jennings Bulldogs have been rolling, rising to the No. 3 spot in the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 3A poll.

“We’ve steadily gotten better every week,” Jennings head coach Bret Fuselier said. “Early on, we knew it was a good team going in.

“We didn’t play our best against them, but they had a little bit to do with it. We’ve been getting better every week offensively, defensively, and special teams. It’s the kind of improvement you want to see over the course of the season, but now we’re about to make our stretch run here.”

It is a different Golden Knights team than the Bulldogs have faced. With a high-tempo, no-huddle offense and quarterback Christian Wold slinging the ball around, the Knights are 5-1 after going 4-7 last season. Jennings won the previous meeting 35-7.

“They are a 5-1 ball club, you know, which proves that they know how to win,” Fuselier said. “They’re always physical when you play them.

“One thing different about them this year is their skill positions. They look more athletic than they ever have been at the skill positions at South Beauregard. Coach (Brad) Kellogg in his second year has done a good job with them. Those guys compete hard. We know we’re in for a battle Friday night.”

Wold is averaging more than 100 rushing and passing yards a game. He has 18 total touchdowns, including a 40-yard touchdown run and a 66-yard scoring pass to Cy Barrow last week in a 48-26 win at Kinder. That big-play ability has caught Fuselier’s eye.

“A lot of the touchdowns we’ve given up on defense this year have been big plays,” he said. “We do a good job of stopping them, getting them behind the chains, and then our opponent will pop a big play on us. We know South Beauregard is very capable of that. They proved that last week. So that’s one thing I’d like to see us improve.”

The Bulldogs’ (5-1, 1-0) defense has a knack for turnovers with 16 in six games. Forcing a few could throw some kinks into the South Beauregard offense (32.7 ppg).

“Our defense this year is kind of like last year. It is about creating turnovers,” Fuselier said. “We’ve done a good job of that all year long.

“That’s something that we’re going to have to defend,” he said of the passing game, “but it’s also going to be about us putting some pressure on that quarterback, too.”

Jennings can score in bunches as well (40.1 ppg). Senior running back ReJohn Zeno has a dozen touchdowns and 783 yards, while sophomore first-year quarterback Chris Ned has emerged to give the Bulldogs a second threat in the backfield. Ned had 519 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, plus six through the air. The pair have combined 1,302 yards behind an improved offense line.

“You know, everybody knows what Zeno can do based off of what he’s done in the past, but he’s (Ned) been a good complement,” Fuselier said. “It kind of takes away being able to focus on one guy, and that’s been a lot of success on our offense.

“I’m going to tell you, nobody has talked about our offensive line. They’ve done a great job for us this year also. Whenever you look at an offensive line, it’s about a group thing, and all five of them have improved drastically in one year.”

District 4-1A

Another crucial district game will happen tonight at Elton High School.

The Indians (5-1, 1-0) host Hamilton Christian (5-1, 1-0) in a game that will help thin out the leaderboard.

Elton has been effective with its power run game which has allowed the Indians to build a five-game win streak.

Makelin Lemoine (86 carries, 1,088 yds., 15 TDs) topped 1,000 yards last week, and backfield mate Tristan Lemoine (106-956, 13 TDs) is not far behind. The pair combined for 379 yards and five touchdowns last week at Elton beat Oberlin on the road 34-18.

Hamilton has won four consecutive games, led by a pair of two-way players in Javon Vital and Noah Menard.

Vital has more than 1,200 passing and rushing yards and 19 total touchdowns. Menard has two receiving touchdowns plus two fumble return scores on defense.

Basile (4-2, 1-0) travels to Grand Lake (2-3, 0-1).