By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

As the prep football season across South Mississippi prepares to begin action in the third moth of the current campaign, it’s time for our 11th 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. Roll Tide Roll — Picayune has won 23 straight region games and the Maroon Tide clinched their fourth consecutive region championship with a 27-20 win over visiting George County in Region 4-6A play at Lee-Triplett Stadium Friday night. The win moves Picayune to 7-2 overall and a perfect 4-0. in the region race, and the Rebels drop to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in league play. Darrell Smith scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half for Picayune and fellow tailback Triston Cooper added a pair in the second in the winning effort. The Maroon Tide defensive unit forced five star Rebel quarterback Deuce Knight, an Auburn commit, Deuce Knight into three turnovers, including a fumble in the waning seconds as well as a key interception several minutes earlier.
2. Greyhound Glory — Ocean Springs is in the midst of its greatest success on the football field ever in the 125 year history of the program as OSHS also clinched its fourth straight region title with a 20-3 win over visiting Gulfport at Greyhound Stadium Friday night. It was also the 23rd consecutive region win for the Greyhounds, dating back to the end of the 2020 season. Ocean Springs quarterback Sharroid Whitehead accounted for all three Greyhound scores, as he ran for two touchdowns and hooked up with Jackson Coleman on a 59-yard scoring strike. It marked the third straight season that OSHS snatched the region title away from the Admirals.
3. Wearing the Crown — Gautier has played for the Class 5A South State championship in each of the past two seasons, a first in program history. Friday night at A.L. May Stadium on the campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, the Gators notched yet another historical milestone in the history books of their gridiron program as Gautier captured its first region title since 2008 with a 35-6 thumping of home-standing Stone in Region 4-5A action. The win pushed the Gators to a perfect 4-0 in the region race and 8-1 overall. The decision assures head coach Marc High’s crew of the top seed in the loop for pairing purposes in the upcoming Class 5A South State playoffs, as senior quarterback Trey Irving accounted for three touchdowns in the winning effort and Gautier also got a special teams score and the Gator defense set up a touchdown as well.
4. Wildcats Roll — Poplarville was denied its eighth Region 8-4A title in the past 10 years Friday night when visiting Greene County rolled into Pearl River County and dismantled the Hornets 49-28. Poplarville had no answer for Wildcat senior quarterback Coby King, King completed 30 of 37 passes for 435 yards and six touchdown passes, and he also had a running score as well. The Hornets didn’t surrender their title without a fight in an offensive explosion that saw the two teams combine for 40 first downs and 940 yards of offense. Both teams start the Class 4A South State playoffs this week.
5. Playoff Participants — While Picayune and George County had already clinched berths in the upcoming Class 6A South State playoffs before their annual battle, both Pascagoula and Hancock joined the postseason party with big league wins Friday night. The Panthers sealed at least the third seed in the region race with a 28-20 come-from-behind win over visiting West Harrison at War Memorial Stadium. Pascagoula got a pair of scoring runs from junior tailback Amarie Jackson in the first half along with a pair of key touchdown tosses from senior quarterback Silas Corder in the second half to seal the win. Meanwhile, in Long Beach, visiting Hancock swooped in and stole a 21-14 victory from Long Beach after the Bearcats held a 14-3 advantage over Hancock at halftime thanks to two touchdown runs by Junior Brown.
6. Staying Alive — On the verge of missing the Class 5A South State playoffs for the second straight season for the first time in 11 years, East Central pulled off perhaps the stunner of the season in the “Southern Six” and stayed alive in the playoff chase with an exciting 28-26 win over longtime arch-rival Vancleave at Shirley stadium Friday night, The Hornets got four touchdown runs from quarterback Taye Guyton in the winning effort, including the game-winner from 10-yards out with just :34 seconds to play. Guton finished the nnight with 255 yards on the ground and the four scores, as he out-dueled Bulldog running back Kyle Capers who also scored four times on the ground and ran for just over 150 yards in the crucial loss for Vancleave.
7. Playoff Participants (Part 2) — In Region 4-7A, both D’Iberville and Biloxi clinched spots in the upcoming Class 7A South State playoffs with respective wins in league action Friday night as well. The Indians went on the road and held off home-standing Harrison Central 30-23 at Earl Phillips Stadium while the Warriors thumped visiting St. Martin 49-0. Both Andre Crosby and Jeremiah Butler ran for two touchdowns apiece to pace the Warriors to the easy win over the arch-rival Yellow Jackets, and Crosby ended up with 100 yards rushing as well. Biloxi got off to a quick 16-0 start thanks to a pair of scores from versatile standout Jalen Anderson and he ran eight yards for the first score of the game and then later on raced 44-yards on a catch and run from quarterback Jordan Ramsey.