By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

The prep football season turns six weeks old this week, after we managed to get through the first month or so of the current season.

“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.

Quite a few teams in the “Southern Six” have open dates this week, but there still are some interesting storylines to follow on Friday.

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

1. Poplarville at Moss Point — The Hornets were the last remaining unbeaten team in the “Southern Six” up until last week, when they traveled to Soso and fell to defending Class 6A state champion West Jones 10-7 in a hard-fought defensive battle. The Mustangs moved to 5-0, and are now riding high on an 19-game winning streak, which included a 42-0 road win over Poplarville en route to that perfect 14-0 state title run last year. Now 4-1, this week Poplarville remains on the road to open Region 8-4A play against winless Moss Point which dropped to 0-5 with a 48-6 loss to visiting West Harrison last week. Although this series dates back to 1941, this marks just the seventh overall meeting between the two teams on the football field but fifth in the past 11 years. The Hornets have won four straight in the series, including a 54-12 win at home last year.
2. Picayune at Petal — The Class 6A Maroon Tide faces its fifth opponent from Class 7A in six games this season, as they take a road trip north to Forrest County to face Petal. The Panthers are 4-1 and on a four game win streak as they await the arrival of the Maroon Tide, which sits 3-2. This marks the first meeting between the two teams in a decade, since home-standing Picayune won 40-35 at home in 2014. It’s the first trip to Petal for Picayune since a wild 61-58 loss in 2013. That season, the Maroon Tide went on to win 12 of their last 13 games and captured the Class 5A state title.
3. George County at Hattiesburg — The Rebels also head north to Forrest County Friday night to take on home-standing Hattiesburg at D.I. Patrick Stadium. The Tigers remained unbeaten at 5-0 on the season with a 40-7 win over Sumrall, while George County snapped a two game losing streak last week with a 20-13 road win over a suddenly subpar Wayne County team. The game was billed as a battle of top quarterbacks, in George County’s Deuce Knight, a Notre Dame commit, and Hattiesburg’s Deuce Vance, a recent South Alabama commit, but Knight has been struggling with a leg injury over the past three weeks. This marks just the fifth all-time meeting in football between the two teams, and the Tigers lead the series 3-1 including a 34-28 road in last year in Lucedale.
4. Greene County at Pass Christian — Just like Moss Point and Poplarville, these two teams kick off Region 8-4A play with a meeting at Buddy McDonald Field Friday night. Both of these teams are expected to battle with defending league champ Poplarville for supremacy in the loop this year, and this contest could well decide homefield advantage for the winner in the opening round of the upcoming Class 4A South State playoffs. The Wildcats come in at 4-1 overall, while the Pirates sit 3-2. This marks the 12th all-time meeting between the two teams, including a 28-6 road win for PCHS last year. The Pirates lead the all-time series 9-2.
5. St. Stanislaus at Stone — The second of only two all “Southern Six” meetings this week on the slate sees the Rock-A-Chaws head to A.L. May Stadium in Perkinston to face the home-standing Tomcats on the campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College. St. Stanislaus sits at 3-2 on the season, while the Tomcats are 1-3. This is just the sixth meeting all-time between the two teams on the football field, including a 23-14 win in Bay St. Louis for the Rocks when the series was resumed after a 41 year hiatus. That game in 1982 was also the last trip to Stone for St. Stanislaus.
6. Bay High at Presbyterian Christian — The third team from the “Southern Six” to head to Forrest County Friday night is the Tigers, who step out of MHSAA play to face the Bobcats, who recently announced they would be joining the MHSAA soon. Bay High has lost four straight games since a season opening 34-3 win over Resurrection, while PCS has dropped two straight games after starting the campaign off at 3-0 including a 36-13 win over RCS.
7. Salem at Resurrection — And speaking of RCS, after an exciting 14-13 road win over St. Patrick last week the Eagles return home but this time to War Memorial Stadium in Pascagoula to host the Wildcats. The game is not only Resurrection’s Homecoming, but it is the Region 8-1A opener for both teams as well. The Eagles have won two straight games and stand 2-3 overall, while Salem is off to a real rough start at 0-5. The Wildcats have one of the worst defenses in the state, as they have given up 41 points in three straight games and that is the LOWEST amount of points they’ve allowed in a game so far this season.