By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

(Editors Note: This is the fourth of a four part series on how the schedule shapes up for the four “Southern Six” squads that reached their respective South State championship games last season.)

OCEAN SPRINGS — Over the first 40 years after a state-wide prep football playoff system was implemented in the state of Mississippi, Ocean Springs played in just one South State championship game.

Now, armed with a new schedule, the Greyhounds head into the upcoming campaign with their sights set on a third trip to the South State finals in the past four seasons.

Ocean Springs enters year three of the Jake Bramlett era, coming off an 8-5 campaign last year that ended with a 31-13 thumping at home at the hands of Brandon in the Class 7A South State title tilt. Ocean Springs has won four straight region titles heading into the new season as well.

Ocean Springs also fell to Brandon in the 2022 Class 6A South State championship game. And even though the Greyhounds return to Region 4-7A for the third straight year after expansion in classification by The Mississippi High School Activities Association in 2023, the league has been revamped and will look a little different moving forward for at least the next two years.

Perhaps the biggest headline when the new league configurations were announced after the recent bi-annual reclassification was that Harrison Central was allowed to stay in the Gulf Coast loop and not sent north for the first time ever which had been rumored for quite some time in the Fall.

What that decision did was ensure that for the first-time in the short history of seven classifications in the state Region 4-7A will consist of seven members in all sports for the next two seasons.

Region 4-7A:

Biloxi

Gulfport

Harrison Central

D’Iberville

St. Martin

Ocean Springs

West Harrison

The talk of HCHS heading “north” if you will to compete with Oak Grove, Petal and Meridian among others in Region 3-7A was based on the news that West Harrison would be moving up to compete in the largest classification state-wide for the first time ever.

Now, after just two seasons of having six members in Region 4-7A with four of those qualifying for the state playoffs seven squads will battle it out for the quartet of postseason slots.

In football, the teams will play one less non-region game in a trade-off to accommodate having a new league foe in the Hurricanes.

So OSHS will play just four non-region games this season, starting with an historic trip to Ray Stadium in Meridian on Thursday, Aug. 28th to face the Wildcats.

Petal, Pascagoula and Picayune follow before league action kicks off with longtime foe Biloxi for Homecoming at Greyhound Stadium on Friday, Sept 26th.

The Greyhounds have won 24 straight region games over the past four seasons.