Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

FERRIDAY — Now that the long Fourth of July weekend is over, local Louisiana high school football coaches are ready to get back to work to get their teams ready for the upcoming 2020 season.

One of them is Ferriday High School’s Stanley Smith, head coach of the defending Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) Class 2A state champion Trojans.

“It’s good to get back to work. When you come back after the holiday, you are trying to knock off all the rust,” Smith said. “We’re trying to be cautious with the number of COVID-19 cases spiking up. Being very cautious and very excited at the same time.”

Smith said his team will be working on conditioning this week.

“Trying to get our legs back under us,” Smith said.

As for if there have been any changes to their plan, Smith said the Trojans are lifting a little lighter and having smaller groups.

As of now, there have not been any changes to Ferriday’s regular-season schedule. The Trojans are scheduled to start the 2020 season on Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. at Alexandria Senior High School.

“Right now, we don’t know yet. We might know more about it at the end of this week,” Smith said.

But there was one change made recently involving a jamboree. The Trojans were scheduled to take on Evangel Christian School at the sixth annual Eddie Robinson Memorial Jamboree at Robinson Memorial Stadium on the campus of Grambling State University on Aug. 28, but that was cancelled due to the coronavirus.

However, Ferriday will still participate in a jamboree on that date. Smith said the Trojans will compete in a jamboree in Alexandria, La. against Holy Savior Menard High School and Bolton High School. He added that the exact location of this jamboree has not been determined.

The Delta Charter School Storm and the Vidalia High School Vikings are returning to practices on July 13.