By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Week two of the prep football season is upon us, after an exciting kickoff to yet another season in the “Southern Six” last week.

“A Look Ahead” 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 Monday SouthMiss6 Sports take a look at the action set to kickoff in that particular week all across this region.

There are some interesting week two match-ups this week after there were several surprising outcomes in the opening week of play.

Here are seven games in the “Southern Six’ to keep an eye on this week:

1. Gautier at D’Iberville (Game of the Week) — Two teams coming off big season-opening wins face off in Harrison County as the Warriors host the Gators. D’Iberville, which shocked home-standing Columbia 51-15 last week, looks to start a season at 2-0 for the first time since 2021 which was also the last year the Warriors qualified for the state playoffs. And, despite making it to the Class 5A South State championship round the past two seasons, Gautier is also looking for its first 2-0 start since that same 2021 campaign. This is the 19th overall meeting between the two teams, and the Gators snapped a five game losing streak to DHS last season with a 41-20 win.
2. East Central at Pascagoula — The Panthers face the Hornets for the second straight season looking to get off to a 2-0 start after thumping arch-rival Moss Point 48-0 last week. Pascagoula continues its favorable part of the non-region schedule that sees it hosting four out of its first five games in the friendly confines of War Memorial Stadium, welcoming in an East Central team that fell at home 33-7 to George County last week. The Hornets now face their second Region 4-6A in back-to-back weeks.
3. Gulfport at Vancleave — This marks just the second meeting all-time between these two teams on the football field, after the Admirals thumped the visiting Bulldogs 42-0 last year at historic Milner Stadium. The two squads come into this first trip ever for Gulfport to Vancleave on completely different paths, after the Admirals beat Greenville Christian 41-6 in the Port City Bowl last week while Vancleave fell to St. Martin 24-14 as the Yellow Jackets snapped a 17 game losing streak in the process.
4. Moss Point at Hancock — A pair of teams coming off losses to start the season face off at Brett Favre Field in the Kiln when the Hawks host the Tigers in week two. Hancock traveled to The River City and picked up a 52-27 win on Dantzler Street in just the third meeting all-time between the teams on the gridiron and the first in 17 years. Moss Point fell to Pascagoula 48-0 last week while Hancock dropped an exciting 58-50 decision to Natchez.
5. Bay High at St. Stanislaus — Another meeting between two teams coming off of much different outcomes in week one face off at Brother Phillip Stadium in the annual “Battle for the Crab Trap”. The Tigers blasted visiting Resurrection 34-3 while the Rocks went on the road to Brooklyn and got rolled by Forrest County AHS 34-10. This marks the 56th all-time meeting between the two neighboring rivals, the longest-running rivarly ever for SSC. Bay High has only met Pass Christian more times (71). Bay High is looking to move to 2-0 for the first time in four years, while SSC is trying to avoid an 0-2 start to a season for the first time in six years.
6. Ocean Springs at Oak Grove — The Greyhounds head to The Pine Belt to face the defending Class 7a state champion Warriors in week two. Ocean Springs opened the season with a loss to Madison Central for the second straight season, while OGHS got off to a 1-0 start with a 38-24 win over visiting Grenada. This will be the fifth time in history that the Greyhounds will travel to Oak Grove, and they have never came home with a win losing all four games. It’s their first trip to Oak Grove in five seasons, but OSHS won the last meeting between the two teams 42-25 in the Class 6A South State playoffs in 2022.
7. St. Martin at Petal — The Yellow Jackets look to get off to a 2-0 start for the second time in three seasons under third-year head coach Ty Smith after snapping a 17-game losing streak with a 2q4-14 win over visiting Vancleave last week. Petal stands 0-1 after a 7-3 loss to neighboring rival Hattiesburg in week one. This marks the fourth all-time meeting between the two teams on the football field in a series that dates back to 1971, and the Panthers are 4-0 all-time against St. Martin.