By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

The prep football season turns nine weeks old this week, believe it or not, as all 24 football-playing teams in the “Southern Six” head toward Halloween.

“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 takes a look at the action set to kickoff in that particular week all across this region.

The respective region races began to take shape a bit last week, and you can expect more of the same this week.

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

1. Gautier at East Central — The Gators go on the road in Region 4-5A play looking to maintain the top spot in the league standings as they head to Hurley to face the home-standing Hornets at Shirley Stadium. The teams sit on the exact opposite end of the spectrum in the region race, as the Gators stand at 2-0 and ECHS is 0-2. This marks the 28th edition of Gautier having a football team and it is the 24th meeting all-time between these two teams on the gridiron, with the Gators in complete command of the all-time series at 17-6. Gautier has also won two straight in the series with ease, including a 34-7 thumping of the Hornets last season. A Gator win won’t lock up their first region title since 2008, but a third league loss for the Hornets will severely dampen the postseason hopes of ECHS which had a string of nine straight playoff trips snapped last season.
2. Ocean Springs at Biloxi — The Greyhounds go forth in search of their 22nd consecutive region win as they head across the Bay to tangle with the Indians for the BHS Homecoming. This marks the 52nd all-time meeting between these two neighbors on the football field, and the all-time series is just about as close as any in the “Southern Six”. A 42-21 win by OSHS last season broke a 25-25 tie in the series and gave the Greyhounds the lead in the all-time affair for the first time in the history of the series at 26-25. Ocean Springs has won seven straight in the annual affair, and needs one more win to tie the best streak in the all-time series at eight straight which the Greyhounds also accomplished from 2003-2010. Biloxi is 1-1 in Region play, while both OSHS and Gulfport are 2-0.
3. Long Beach at Picayune — The perennial power Maroon Tide is also riding an impressive region winning streak, as they host the Hurricanes in search of their 22nd straight league win also and Picayune has won 24 straight games against region foes when you include the playoffs. In three games last season, the Picayune boys basketball team swept West Harrison by the scores of 50-40, 53-44 and 45-39. All fail in comparison to last week’s 69-50 win by the Maroon Tide over the Hurricanes on the football field. The Tide comes in at 2-0 in Region 4-6Aa and the Bearcats at 0-2 after a 50-14 loss to Pascagoula last week. The 69 points scored by Picayune last week was the most in a game since beating LBHS at home in 2012 84-19.
4. St. Martin at Gulfport — Speaking of region winning streaks, Gulfport isn’t on one of any length overall but against the Yellow Jackets that’s an entirely different story. The Admirals have beaten St. Martin 13 straight times on the football field, including a 42-6 thumping last season, and own a commanding 17-1 overall lead in the all-time series. The only St. Martin win on the field came in 2003, although GHS forfeited a game to SMHS in the Covid season of 2020. The Admirals are 2-0 in Region 4-7A play, and the Yellow Jackets come in at 0-2.
5. Pascagoula at Hancock — Two teams that stand tied in Region 4-6A action at 1-1 face off at Brett Favre Field in the Kiln as the Panthers come calling on the home-standing Hawks. The two squads are coming off different results last week, as Pascagoula recorded that aforementioned 50-14 win over Long Beach at home and Hancock dropped a hard-fought 51-41 loss on the road to George County. These two teams never met on the football field until 2005, and since then the Panthers own an 8-3 advantage in 11 meetings over the past almost two decades including wins in the past three seasons over HHS. The team that takes a loss in this one this week will severely damage its chances of hosting an opening round game in the upcoming Class 6A South State playoffs.
6. Laurel at Vancleave — A big test for both of these teams in Region 4-5A takes place in Jackson County Friday night as the Bulldogs host the Golden Tornadoes for the first time ever. Vancleave and Laurel both sit at 1-1 after two weeks of league play, and this one may indeed go a long way in deciding who gets one of two home berths in the region race in the opening round of the upcoming Class 5A South State playoffs. The Bulldogs went on the road and brought home what they hope is a statement win 37-13 over Stone last week, the same Tomcat team that went “Between the Bricks” and stunned the Golden Tornadoes 24-21 the prior week. This marks just the third all-time meeting in football between the two schools, with Laurel winning both previous encounters including a 45-6 thumping in Jones County last year.
7. Moss Point at Greene County — An historically dismal season comes to an end for the Tigers Friday night as they head to Johnny Ainsworth Stadium in Leakesville to face the home-standing Wildcats. Once mighty Moss Point was eliminated from playoff contention last week as a 41-0 loss to visiting Pass Christian dropped the Tigers to 0-3 in league play. It marks the first time that MPHS will miss the state playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 42 years, and it’s just the second time ever since the implementation of a state-wide football playoff system in the state of Mississippi in 1981 that has happened as well. The Tigers sit at 0-8, and are on the verge of finishing a season win-less for the first time in 72 years, since 1952. Greene County looks to remain tied with Poplarville atop the Region 8-4A standings with a win, as both the Hornets and the Wildcats sit at 2-0 in league play.