By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

As the prep football season across South Mississippi heads towards Thanksgiving, it’s time for our 12th 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 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. Pounding in Picayune — The renewal of the Picayune-Pearl River rivalry on the football field was just more of the same thing. The Maroon Tide won their eighth straight game against the Blue Devils in very easy fashion Friday night at Lee-Triplett Stadium 48-7 in the opening round of the Class 6A South State playoffs. The win moves Picayune, now 10-2 overall, on to the South State semifinals next week where the Maroon Tide will host George County. Picayune versatile two-way standout Triston Cooper made sure that the streak would continue over their neighbors from about seven miles up the road, as he scored four first half touchdowns in guiding the Maroon Tide to a commanding 42-7 halftime lead, three on scoring runs and one on an interception return.
2. Rebels roll in Soso — The drought is over. For the first time in 17 years, the George County High School football team won a playoff game. The Rebels escaped with a 26-22 win over the defending Class 6A state champion Friday night in the opening round of the Class 6A South State playoffs. George County now gets a chance to make history once again in the second round, as the Rebels travel to perennial state power Picayune next week to face a team they haven’t beaten in 22 years in a stadium where they haven’t won in 25 years. George County senior standout signal-caller Deuce Knight accounted for all four Rebel touchdowns, as he recorded a pair of scoring runs as well as two touchdown tosses including the eventual game-winner to wide out D. J. McNair from 55-yards out with just over two minutes to play.
3. Revenge for the Greyhounds — For the third time in four years, Ocean Springs is headed to the second round of the South State playoffs. But, this will mark the first time in the new Class 7A. Trailing at halftime, the Greyhounds took over in the second half thanks to a 17 point third quarter and held off visiting Northwest Rankin 24-17 Friday night at home to open the Class 7A South State playoffs. Ocean Springs, under the direction of second-year head coach Jake Bramlett, will host perennial state power and defending Class 7A state champion Oak Grove next week. With the win, OSHS moves to 7-4 and the season and the decision helped the Greyhounds earn a measure of revenge over the Cougars who came into Greyhound Stadium nine weeks ago in week three of the regular season and slipped away with a 29-28 win in overtime.
4. Panthers Pummel Bulldogs — Pascagoula actually played a home game in the opening round of the state playoffs for the first time in nine years Friday night. And the result, fortunately for veteran head coach Lewis Sims and his Panthers, was just about the same as the last time. Pascagoula dispatched visiting Terry 41-0 in the first round of the Class 6A South State playoffs at War Memorial Stadium. The win pushes the Panthers into the second round on the road at Hattiesburg this week. Pascagoula moved to 9-2 overall with the win. The last time the Panthers actually got to play at home in the opening round of the state playoffs was in 2015, when they thumped Brookhaven 36-8.
5. Gators Glide By — It was a little bit tougher than last year, but in the end the result was the same for Gautier as the Class 5A South State playoffs kicked off. For the second straight season, the Gators hosted Natchez to open the postseason, and for the second consecutive year Gautier beat the Bulldogs to move on to round two. However, Friday’s 36-30 decision was a far cry from the 50-18 win GHS posted over NHS in round one last year. But again, the Gators are moving on to the Class 5A South State semifinal round for the third straight season and will host Region 4-5A foe Wayne County next week. With the game knotted up at 30-30, Gautier senior standout quarterback Trey Irving, who was recently named Class 5A “Mr. Football” in the state, found running back Kasin Thomas on a 55-yard scoring strike to provide the game-winning points with just 1:53 to play in the game. Irving, in fact, accounted for all five Gator touchdowns as he ran for two and threw for three
6. Admirals Run Ashore — For the second straight season, Gulfport lost at home in the opening round of the Class 7A South State playoffs. The Admirals tied the game at 17-17 when Dane Sullivan connected with Cooper Crosby for a 69-yard score with 3:44 left on the game clock. But all but 30 ticks of game clock were all the Panthers needed to recover an onside kick and get within field goal range for Samuel Hayden the junior kicker, who nailed it from 28 yards out to give the Panthers a 20-17 win and a second-round playoff game next week at Brandon. The season ends for GHS and second year head coach Blake Pennock at 7-4, and PHS moves on with an 8-4 mark.
7. Indians Clipped Again — Defending Class 7A state champion Oak Grove ended the season for visiting Biloxi and first-year head coach Jamey Dubose Friday night. The Warriors never trailed, jumping out to a quick and commanding 20-0 first half lead en route to a 34-20 win over the Indians in opening round play of the Class 7A South State playoffs. With the win, Oak Grove moves to 8-3 overall on the season and will head to Ocean Springs for a second round match-up next week. Biloxi’s ends the season at 5-6. The decision marked the sixth straight loss all-time for Biloxi to Oak Grove, including four consecutive in the playoffs. The Indians have never beat the Warriors on the gridiron.