By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

As the prep football season across South Mississippi heads towards the end of September, it’s time for our fourth 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. Admirals in Command — Gulfport won on the road in Picayune for the first time in six years, and the Admirals did so in dominating fashion in a solid 41-21 win over the Maroon Tide. Picayune gave up over 600 yards of total offense in the loss, which was its second home loss of the season. The running back combination of Cooper Crosby and Dakoreyon Payton accounted for 425 yards rushing, as Crosby rushed for 243 yards and three touchdowns, including a 92-yard scoring scamper, and Payton added 173 yards and two scores as well. In its last five games Picayune is just 2-3 and has allowed 162 points including 120 points at home this season so far.
2. Panther Pride — Pascagoula shook a big monkey off its back Friday night. In fact, after nine years the familiar nemesis had grown into a gorilla. The Panthers knocked off visiting D’Iberville 21-7 at War Memorial Stadium for Homecoming, moving to 3-1 on the season and bouncing back from their first loss of the season in the process. The win was the first for Pascagoula over the Warriors on the gridiron since 2015, and snapped a six-game losing streak to D’Iberville in this annual affair. The Panthers got a stout performance from its defensive unit, and junior running back Amarie Jackson accounted for three touchdowns two on the ground and one on a 64-yard scoring pass. The six game losing streak to DHS was the longest to any one opponent in Pascagoula veteran head coach Lewis Sim’s 14-year tenure at PHS.
3. Barking ‘Dogs — Vancleave won its third straight game in Lucdeal over the past 11 years with an exciting 27-24 decision over an injury-riddled George County team at Gill-Martin Stadium. The underdog Bulldogs began the game with a field goal and ended it with one as well as their final points of the game came on a 33-yard field goal by Scottie Toothman with 3:26 remaining in the game to snap a 24-24 tie and clinch the win. Both teams now stand an even 2-2 on the season, but each has arrived at that destination from different directions as Vancleave lost its first two games of the season before bouncing back to win the last two while the Rebels have done just the opposite dropping the last two games without the services of senior standouts Deuce Knight and Brenn Moody.
4. Tigers Tumble — For the third time in four years, Gautier is off to a 3-1 start to a season. The Gators swam into Dantzler Stadium and kept Jackson County rival Moss Point win-less on the season with a 48-33 win Friday night. The Gators, coming off a big 38-31 win over arch-rival Pascagoula last week, move to 3-1 with the win on the banks of the Escatawpa River over the Tigers who fall to 0-4. Gautier quarterback Trey Irving was the catalyst for the Gator offensive explosion, as he ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more in the big win.
5. Pirate Power — Pass Christian captured its third straight win of the season to move to 3-1 overall with a 47-10 dismantling of St. Stanislaus. That marks the fourth straight season that the Pirates have jumped out to a 3-1 start and fifth time in the past six years. Senior standout running back Jacquez Alexander-Dedeaux led the Pirates with 12 carries for 158 yards and four touchdowns. The Rock-a-Chaws dropped to 2-2 overall on the season, but they had one big bright spot in the loss as senior stalwart place-kicker Evan Noel, an Arkansas commit, booted a state record 61-yard field goal late in the game.
6. Hurricane Force — West Harrison also won its third straight game and moved to 3-1 overall with an impressive 55-0 thumping of visiting Bay High for Homecoming It is also the third straight season that the Hurricanes have started a campaign at 3-1, as they continue to search for that elusive first state playoff berth in program history. West Harrison has tallied 150 points for far this season, including 103 the past two weeks in wins over the Tigers and East Marion. The Hurricanes scored on their first seven possessions Friday night.
7. Defensive Battle — An early season renewal of an old Big 8 Conference rivalry in Biloxi resulted in a hard-fought 12-7 win for visiting Hattiesburg. The Tigers remained unbeaten on the season at 4-0, while Biloxi is now 2-2 under first-year head coach Jamey Dubose. The Indians scored first and led throughout the first half thanks to a 3-yard scoring run from tailback Jamir Haskins It also marked the first time this season that Hattiesburg trailed in a game. But the Tigers bounced right back with a scoring drive of their own as Jaboris Jones ran five yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter, and then two minutes into the third quarter, Hattiesburg wide out Tyree Barnett took a speed sweep 48-yards through the Indian defense to provide the decisive points. Barnett is a transfer from Harrison Central. It marked the 82nd all-time meeting between the two teams in a series that dates back to 1922.