BISMARCK — The Bismarck Lions are back for a tough road test to kick off the 2025 season Friday against the Mansfield Tigers for Week 0 of Arkansas high school football.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Mansfield.
Bismarck football head coach Daniel “DJ” Keithley is roaring the Lions for a challenging task and road back to War Memorial. The Lions were tested last season in their opener against Mansfield and had to overcome some adversity in comeback victory against the Tigers 35-31 at Doyle Henderson Field.
But, this time the Lions make the trip to Mansfield and Bismarck will be tested in their season-opener Friday night. Mansfield has a talented backfield of playmakers with some versatility and skilled passing scheme of receivers to be a threat on the field.
Also Mansfield is very disciplined in their defense—with a powerful defensive line that can dominate the line of scrimmage.
The Tigers come into this season with high expectations coming off an 11-3 season—returning three all-state players and several all-conference standouts from their line and skill positions. The Lions came out with a big victory last week in their scrimmage game against Class 4A Harmony Grove Cardinals of Haskell. Keithley was glad to come out with a victory, but felt there are some things the Lions need to improve in order to go on the road to present an effective scheme of execution against an eager Mansfield squad seeking revenge on the Lions.
Read full pregame football story details in Thursday’s August 28 MDR newspaper edition.