By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PASS CHRISTIAN — Once again, Pass Christian will open a new prep football season facing longtime and neighboring rival Long Beach in the annual “Oyster Bowl”.

It will be the 66th all-time meeting between the two teams on the gridiron, and last season the Bearcats broke a four game losing streak in the series with a 28-21 win at home.

Pass Christian head coach Jeff Stockstill is now 1-1 against the Bearcats as he enters his third year at the helm of the Pirates.

And after the loss to Long Beach to begin last year, Stockstill believes there’s an added importance in getting off to a better start this year.

“That loss kinda set the tone for us last year,” Stockstill said, in a recent interview. “We lost five games and four were by one score. We just never could make that key play on offense or that big stop on defense to get over that hump. We’re hoping if all goes well we can exercise some of those demons early in the year.”

This will mark the seventh time in the past nine seasons that the “Oyster Bowl” will serve as the season-opener for both teams in a series that dates back to 1941. For many of those seasons, the two were in the same region, district or conference.

The win last season left Long Beach ahead in the series 41-23-1. The Bearcats are looking for back-to-back wins in consecutive years for the first time in almost 20 years.

Long Beach is under the direction of new head coach Cody Finley, who was elevated from an assistant to replace Jacob Massey.

New foes

On the opposite end of the spectrum, PCHS will meet Presbyterian Christian in week three on Sept., 12th on the road in Hattiesburg. It marks the first-ever meeting between the two teams on the football field.

And, the Pirates welcome East Central back to their slate this season as well. It will be the first meeting with the Hornets in seven years.

Week One

That “Oyster Bowl” encounter between PCHS and LBHS is one of eight opening week contests pitting a pair of “Southern Six” squads against one another to kick off the new campaign.
That’s the most such match-ups in week one in almost two decades.
The other seven games are Picayune at Gulfport, Pascagoula at Moss Point, St. Martin at Vancleave, Gautier at George County, West Harrison at Poplarville, Bay High at Pearl River Central and Stone at Hancock.