By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

D’Iberville is set to encounter several new faces over the first three weeks of the season in the upcoming new football campaign.

The Warriors open the year at home against Raleigh. The two teams have never met on the football field before.

Also, after traveling to Gautier in week two, DHS remains on the road in week three traveling to Seminary. That game marks just the second encounter ever on the gridiron between the Warriors and the Bullogs, and the first in 61 years

Seminary dropped down from Class 3A last year to Class 2A and joins Raleigh in Region 6-2A this season. The Bulldogs were 10-3 last season and advanced to the Class 3A South State semifinals.

In the only other meeting between the two teams, the Warriors earned a 25-12 over Seminary in 1965.

Meanwhile, Raleigh went 12-2 last year and fell in the Class 2A South State finals 26-12 to eventual state champ Heidelberg.

In between those two games, DHS gets a shot at Gautier after the Warriors thumped the visiting Gators 33-12 last year. It was the only blemish on a 9-1 regular season slate for the Gators, who went on to capture the Class 5A South State title before falling to perennial state power West Point for the state title.

More New Faces

Both D’Iberville and Harrison Central return to a newly revamped Region 4-7A this season.

And even though Harrison Central has missed the state playoffs the past two seasons, the Red Rebels face an historic season opener just like several other of the teams they’ll be competing for a postseason spot with this year.

Harrison Central opens the 2025 campaign on the road in Jackson against Lanier High on Friday, Aug., 29th. Not only will it mark the first-ever meeting on the gridiron between the Bulldogs and Red Rebels, but it will also be the first time ever that a Harrison Central squad has played a game in historic Hughes Field.

At one point, Hughes Field was considered one of the “crown jewels” of the stadium scene in the Capital City, and hosted many Big Eight Conference Championship football games and track meets over the years and was also the host site for a few state championship games on the gridiron back in the early to mid 1980’s after a statewide playoff system was implemented in the state.

The trip to Jackson will be a rare one for HCHS in football, as it marks just the third game ever against a member of the Jackson Public School District, including a trip in 2017 to face Forrest Hill High at South Jackson Field.