The Mansfield Wolverines are coming off one its best seasons in recent history as the program won six of its final eight games, including a first-round playoff game at Marksville.

The Wolverines started that season 0-4 against a rough early slate, and Mansfield would love to avoid a similar start to this season.

That journey starts with a home contest against Class 4A Minden on Friday.

The Class 2A Wolverines split their games in the DeSoto Parish Jamboree this past week, topping Logansport 6-0 and falling to North DeSoto 27-14.

Beefy running back Terrance Pegues won’t be terrorizing defenses this year, but brother Terrell has already made his mark.

Pegues returned a kickoff return for a touchdown against North DeSoto and will spearhead the Mansfield rushing attack this season after Terrance Pegues and Rykeelin Vanzant.

“We came out feeling good about the jamboree,” said Mansfield coach Darrell Barbay. “We did a lot of things well, but we have a lot to improve on.

“Our tackling has been getting better, but we have to eliminate the mental mistakes on offense. If we can do that, we have a good chance this week.”

Quarterback Sharmal Booker has made strides entering his second season as a starter, aiming to add a viable passing attack to Mansfield’s robust ground game.

They’ll attempt to put it all together against a Minden squad that is coming off a three-win season with two of those wins in the final two games of the regular season.