By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

WIGGINS — As the old crow flies, the distance between Stone High and Norteast Jones is about 67 miles or abount an hour by car.

Or, almost 54 years it seems.

While Stone returns to a revamped Region 4-5A this season that again includes Vancleave, East Central and Wayne County. New to the league this season are Northeast Jones and Purvis, who replace Laurel and Gautier.

That means that when the Tomcats travel to Tiger Stadium in Laurel on Halloween Night this year, it will mark the first regular season meeting on the football field between the Tomcats and NEJ since Sept. 24th, 1971, or 54 years and one month.

The two teams have met in the South State playoffs more recently, as in 27 years ago, on Nov. 13th, 1998, a 6-0 home win for the Tigers. The last home game against NEJ was also in the state playoffs 45 years ago, in round one of the 1980 postseason, which the Tigers also won 21-14.

In fact, Stone and Stone County is 0-5 all time on the gridiron against NEJ.

Two more times

In addition, though it hasn’t been nearly that long, Stone will renew rivalries with a pair of “Southern Six” foes this season as well.

The Tomcats open the season on the road in the Kiln at Brett Favre stadium against the home-standing Hawks. That will be the first game between the Tomcats and Hancock in five years.

It has also been five years, since that same Covid season of 2020, since Stone has played new region member Purvis.

Also, George County is back on the Stone schedule this season as well. When the Rebels host the Tomcats in week five on Fri., Sept. 26th, it’ll mark the first two meetings between the old Gulf Coast Conference rivals since a 28-20 win by Stone in 2014, 11 years ago.

Ironically enough, George County is Stone’s longest-running series of all-time, as the two teams have faced off 68 times in a series that dates back to 1925.

In fact, the two teams met annually on the football field for over four decades, from 1963-2004 when the series halted. It then resumed for six season in 2009 through that last game in 2014.

Week One

That opening week match-up between Stone and Hancock is just one of eight total week one contests 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, Long Beach at Pass Christian, St. Martin at Vancleave, Gautier at George County, West Harrison at Poplarville, Bay High at Pearl River Central and Stone at Hancock.