By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

With the start of yet another prep football season across South Mississippi last week, it’s time for our second installment of “Friday Night Rewind” here at SouthMiss6 Sports.

“Friday Night Rewind” has been a part of the journalistic fabric of prep football across the “Southern Six” for most of the past three decades. Each week of the season on Sunday we’ll take a look back at the action that took place all across this region the previous week.

Here are seven things we noticed in the “Southern 6” Friday night:

1. Umm….What? — Pascagoula opened the season with an epic pummeling of arch-rival Moss Point in the annual “Battle of the Cats”. In fact, the 48-0 thumping was one with historical ramifications. The margin of victory was the largest in the long-running series in 94 years, since a 53-0 PHS win in 1930. Pascagoula also beat the Tigers 47-0 in 1961. Combined with Pascagoula’s 31-0 win last season, the decision marks the second tiime in the past nine meetings that the Panthers have recorded back-to-back shutouts in the series.
2. Low Tide — Visiting Brandon beat up Picayune 60-34, marking the most points allowed by the Maroon Tide in 11 years since a 61-58 loss on the road at Petal to open the 2013 season. The 26-point loss marks the largest margin of defeat for Picayune since a 63-28 road loss to St. Martin in 2015. It marked the first time Picayune allowed 60 points at home since a 61-7 loss to Biloxi in 1971.
3. Grounded ‘Hounds — For the second straight season, Madison Central handed Ocean Springs a close loss to open the new campaign as the Jaguars pulled out a 27-20 win at Greyhound Stadium. Ocean Springs, like last season, now faces the possibility of starting a season at 0-2 for the first time in five years, when the Greyhounds also opened a new campaign with a close home loss to an opponent from the Jackson area in a 24-21 defeat at the hands of Ridgeland High.
4. Streak Snapped — St. Martin snapped a 17-game losing streak with a 24-14 win over visiting Vancleave. It marked the first win for the Yellow Jackets in almost two years, since a 42-26 win over Greene County on Sept., 16th 2022. St. Martin now looks to open a season at 2-0 for the first time in five years, since beating Jackson Forrest Hill and Moss Point to open the 2019 campaign.
5. Comeback ‘Cats — After four straight losses in the long-running rivalry, Long Beach celebrated a win in the Oyster Bowl with a 28-21 win over visiting Pass Christian. It also marked the first win in a season opener for the Bearcats in four years. Long Beach is halfway to its total of wins in a 2-9 campaign last season, which included. the Bearcats snapping a state-wide long 29 game win streak in week four action.
6. Historic Meeting — Gautier nipped Harrison Central 26-23 in overtime in the first-ever meeting between the two “Southern Six” foes on the gridiron. The game was the opener of the annual Port City Bowl doubleheader at historic Milner Stadium, and took just over three hours to play. It marked the first win in a season opener fo the Gators in three seasons, who fell to host Gulfport in the Port City Bowl last season 42-0.
7. Shrimp Bowl — Home-standing Biloxi shutout Stone 15-0 at the Biloxi Sports Complex in the annual Shrimp Bowl. It marked the second straight season the Indians knocked off the Tomcats in the event. The game was the debut of new Indian head coach Jamey Dubose, who came across the state line after many years of success in the Alabama prep circles.