By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

With the start of yet another prep football season across South Mississippi set for later this week, it’s time for our first installment of “A Look Ahead” here at SouthMiss6 Sports.

“A Look Ahead” has been a part of the journalistic fabric of prep football across the “Southern Six” for most of the past three decades. Each week of the season on Monday, we’ll take a look at the action set to kick off in that particular week all across this region.

Week one in the “Southern Six” this season is mostly an all “Family Affair”, as eight out of the 16 games in the footprint of our coverage area pit one “Southern Six” squad against another one.

We’ll kick this weekly feature off with a look at “7 games in the Southern 6” to keep an eye on this week:

1. Pascagoula at Moss Point — The 85th annual “Battle of the Cats” between these longtime arch-rivals takes place on Dantzler Street Friday night. This is the 11th time in the past 13 seasons that the Panthers and Tigers have opened the season against one another, after almost five decades of meeting in the regular season finale. Pascagoula has owned the series of late, going 10-2 on the field against MPHS since veteran head coach Lewis Sims left the Tigers to take the helm at PHS. The two teams didn’t meet in 2020 or 2021.
2. Picayune at Gulfport (Game of the Week) — The Maroon Tide comes calling to the coast and faces the Admirals in historic Milner Stadium Friday night. Gulfport headed up to Pearl River County and thumped Picayune 41-21 last season. The Maroon Tide and the Admirals meet for the 11th consecutive season, and that win by the Admirals over Picayune last year snapped a five game win streak in the series by the Maroon Tide. This could be the final time that Gulfport opens a season at Milner Stadium.
3. Gautier at George County — These two teams face off on the football field for the first time in three years, as the defending Class 5A South State champion heads north to tangle with the Rebels in Lucedale at Gill-Martin Stadium. The Gators bombed the visiting Rebels 49-21 in 2022, to snap a three game GCHS winning streak in this series. This one would have been a great one last year with Class 5A Mr. Football Trey Irving calling the shots at quarterback for Gautier and All-Star standout Deuce Knight doing the same on the other side of the field. This will mark Gautier;’s first ever outing as a Class 6A team. Despite the loss in the last meeting, GCHS has won 11 out of the past 14 contests.
4. West Harrison at Poplarville — A historic meeting in more ways than one for both squads as the defending Class 4A state champ Hornets host the Hurricanes. West Harrison has moved up a level to Class 7A, and for the first time ever will be competing in the largest classification in the state. And, this will mark the first-ever meeting on the football field between the Hurricanes and Hornets. Plus, it’ll be the first time the Hornets step on the field as state champions. In addition, it will be the first time Poplarville has ever played a Class 7A program in football.
5. Long Beach at Pass Christian — The Bearcats head west down Highway 90 a few miles with a new head coach in tow in Cody Finley to face the home-standing Pirates at McDonald Stadium Friday night to kick off the upcoming campaign in the annual “Oyster Bowl”. This marks the 66th overall meeting between the two neighboring rivals, and Long Beach snapped a four game losing streak to PCHS in the annual battle last season with a 28-21 win.
6. St. Martin at Vancleave — The Yellow Jackets also have a new head coach in Woody Cagnolatti as they face off with the Bulldogs Friday night in the season-opener for both teams. St. Martin snapped a 17 game overall losing streak in week one last year with a surprising 24-14 win over visiting Vancleave. This marks the fourth straight season the two Jackson County foes have met, as well as the 13th time since 2000.
7. Ocean Springs at Meridian — When Ocean Springs opens the 2025 prep football season on the road at historic Ray Stadium against the Wildcats Thursday night, it’ll mark an historic outing for both teams. The contest will mark the first time ever that the Greyhounds and Wildcats have ever met in the regular season. Ocean Springs and once perennial state power Meridian have met four times overall, but all four of those meetings came in the state playoffs. The Wildcats have won all four of the past games, including a stunning upset in Greyhound Stadium to open the Class 7A South State playoffs two years ago. That contest also marks the only time the two teams met in Ocean Springs.