By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

With both Gautier and George County going through some changes since last season, it seems almost fitting that the two teams are set to kick off the new campaign against one another on the football field.

The Gators will begin their first-ever season in Class 6A on the road in Lucedale at Gill-Martin Stadium against the home-standing Rebels on Friday, Aug. 29th

It will mark the 19th meeting overall between the two teams on the gridiron and also the third time the two teams have opened the season against one another in the past 10 years. The Rebels have an 11-7 advantage in the all-time series that began in 1997, which was the first season in Gautier program history.

The Gators are coming off their first ever sppearance in a state championship game but then were elevated from Class 5A to Class 6A and will compete in Region 4-6A.

George County, meanwhile, was shipped out of Region 4-6A and moved “north” into Region 3-6A.

Season Openers

And speaking of that George County-Gautier lid-lifter, all six squads in Region 4-6A will open the upcoming season against other “Southern Six” competition.

Pascagoula will once again battle longtime arch-rival Moss Point in the annual “Battle of the Cats”, while Long Beach and Pass Christian will once again open the season against one another in that long-standing series.

Also, Picayune faces Gulfport and  Hancock takes on Stone High while Pearl River Central faces Bay High to kick off the new campaign.

All of those games will also take place on Friday, Aug. 29th.

Region 4-6A underwent some fairly significant change since last season. It remains a region that has sent football, basketball and softball teams on to state championship match-ups over the past several years as well as a baseball team that has been right on the verge of playing for a crown recently also.

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

That meant that Pearl River Central would be enjoying old home week as the Blue Devils will replace the Rebels in the loop.

Also, however, in addition to Gautier moving up a classification and into Class 6A for the first time ever, Region 4-6A is losing West Harrison which is moving up to Class 7A for the first time ever as well.

So for the next two seasons, football will consist of perennial state power Picayune, who won back-to-back Class 5A state titles in 2022 and 2023, as well as Gautier who played for the Class 5A state crown last season. Pascagoula played for the state title in 2012, as did Picayune in 2011, 2013 and 2019 winning crowns in both 2011 and 2013 as well.