By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

(Editors Note: This is the second of a seven part series on how new region alignments will stack up for teams in the “Southern Six” next season)

When the new region realignments were announced for the 2025-2027 school years by the Mississippi High School Activities Association some six months ago, the state football playoffs were in full steam, the state volleyball championships trophies had just been handed out and the prep basketball regular season was just getting cranked up.

Then, as the winter sports gave way to the spring teams, baseball, softball and other athletic endeavors stole the spotlight.

So, as one school year draws to a close, all eyes in the prep sports world in the “Southern Six” begin to focus on the upcoming new session starting in August as well as the new region realignments.

Almost every one of the 24 “Southern Six” sanctioned high schools by the MHSAA were affected in some form or fashion by the bi-annual reclassification process.

Today, we’ll take a look at a big change for a school that has won both a baseball and a softball state championship as well as a state title in boys’ soccer over the past two seasons.

One of the biggest controversies when the new league configurations were announced was that George County would be sent back “north” to compete in Region 3-6A once again.

After much discussion and even an appeal by GCHS administrators to the MHSAA, the Rebels were denied a claim to stay in Region 4-6A and will be replaced in that league by Pearl River Central and the Rebels will replace the Blue Devils in Region 3-6A.

In region play in almost all sports the league alignments are all the same.

“We were basically told it was our turn to go north,” GCHS Athletics Coordinator/head baseball coach Brandon Davis said over the weekend.

What that decision did, was ensure that the only “Southern Six” school to win both a state baseball championship (last year) as well as a state softball championship (this year) won’t be competing in the same regions as it has the past two seasons.

In fact, it marks the first time in seven years that GCHS will be relegated to the more northern region.

Region 3-6A:

George County

Hattiesburg

West Jones

Terry

Jim Hill

Forrest Hill

So, in baseball in particular, the Rebels won’t be facing Picayune, Pascagoula and Hancock among others in region action next year. And while the Rebels have faced West Jones in a best-of-three Class 6A South State playoff series each of the past two seasons as well as Terry to open the postseason this year and Jim Hill last season, those two teams will now become region foes for GCHS.

So, on paper at least, it’s no doubt not as strong as the one GCHS competed in the past few times it competed in the more northern of the two leagues.

That’s because in the past, over the past decades plus each time the Rebels were relegated to the lower region number they had to share a region with perennial state powers Oak Grove and Petal as well as Meridian among others.

Also, Region 3-6A plays just two league games per week as opposed to three which the Rebels have done for quite a few seasons now.

In football, the Rebels upset defending Class 6A state champion West Jones on the road last year to open the south state playoffs, marking the first postseason win for GCHS in 17 years.

Now the Mustangs will be a region foe for the Rebels, as will Hattiesburg after the Rebels and Tigers have met in the regular season each of the past two seasons.

Terry came to Lucedale in 2023 and upset GCHS in the opening round of the Class 6A South State playoffs.

The Mustangs and Hattiesburg are the prior two defending Class 6A South State champs, as the Tigers fell to Grenada in the state title round last season.

In softball, the Lady Rebels have swept Hattiesburg the past two seasons in the opening round of the Class 6A South State playoffs.