By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PASCAGOULA — When Pascagoula kicks off yet another prep football season later this month against longtime arch-rival Moss Point, it’ll continue a recent trend for the Panthers under veteran head coach Lewis Sims.

For the fourth third straight season, PHS won’t have to travel outside of the “Southern Six” footprint to play a regular season game. In fact, in the last five seasons, the Panthers have traveled outside of that space just once in the regular season and that’s when the Panthers went to Waynesboro and played Wayne County in Sims’ homeland in 2021.

“That was absolutely by design,” Sims said, in a recent interview.. “Once there was an expansion to seven classifications we realized there’s way too many quality teams down here on the Coast that we could schedule that wouldn’t be in our region. That included Biloxi and D’Iberville, who we have had long running rivalries with over the years, as well as our traditional arch-rivals in Moss Point and Gautier.”

Pascagoula’s schedule features nothing but other foes from the “Southern Six”, including five Region 4-6A foes as well as a pair of non region opponents from Jackson County in Moss Point and Ocean Springs and three from Harrison County in Biloxi, D’Iberville and Gulfport.

The longest bus trip for the Panthers this season will be the some 60-mile trek to Hancock in region action on Halloween Night at Brett Favre Field.

This year, the Gautier joined PHS in Region 4-6A and Sims went out and added Gulfport to replace Gautier.

In addition, the Gators filled George County’s spot in the loop when the Rebels were forced north into Region 3-6A, and with Gautier taking that spot on the league slate that opened up a slot to renew what had become a spirited rivalry with OSHS.

“There’s absolutely no reason for us to go outside of that “Southern Six” footprint to play a game,” Sims added. “In fact, I had someone ask me that same question and I told them that it just makes no sense to do that with all of the competition that we have down here in the two largest classifications.”

Pearl River Central is a new Region 4-6A member as well this season, and the Panthers and Blue Devils will meet again for the first time in five years, since 2020.

The Panthers and the Greyhounds will renew acquaintances on the gridiron for the first time since that aforementioned expansion to seven classifications in 2023.

That’s also the last year that PHS and Gulfport met.