By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

MOSS POINT — It seems kind of ironic that the 85th version of the annual “Battle of the Cats” will take place on Dantzler Street Friday night as Moss Point hosts longtime arch-rival Pascagoula.

And that’s because for veteran Pascagoula head coach Lewis Sims, going back where it all began will more than likely be where it all ends as far as this long-standing rivalry is concerned.

Sims has been a part of this series since 1987, when he was a sophomore linebacker for the Tigers. In all likelihood, as he begins his 15th season at the helm of the Panthers, this will be his last as a head coach in this match-up as he will be eligible for full retirement in December.

“The Battle of the Cats is one of the longest standing rivalries in Mississippi,” Sims said. “Having played in and coached in it, and the only head coach to do it from both sides, I’ve seen how much it means to both communities, and that hasn’t changed in the 40 years I’ve been around this game. There are great players and coaches on both sides, and they play their hardest for the schools they represent. Roots run deep on both sides, the players even coming from houses divided, Momma is from one side and daddies from the other and vice versa.”

Sims is the dean and longest-tenured head coach in the “Southern Six”, as he enters his 18th season as a head coach in Jackson County. In addition to his tenure at PHS, he began his head coaching career at his alma mater and served three years in that role before coming across Jefferson Street to guide the Panthers.

With a fifth straight win Friday night in the rivalry, Sims will become tied for most wins all time in the long-running rivalry.

Sims currently sits at 13-2 overall as the only head coach to lead both the Panthers and Tigers in the series. He went 3-0 vs. PHS as a head coach at MPHS and is now 10-2 against the Tigers after a 48-0 thumping last year that marked the largest margin of victory in the series in over 90 years. The only larger deficit was a 53-0 PHS win in 1930.

With a win this week, Sims will tie his mentor at MPHS Jerry Alexander for the most wins total in that series at 14 wins. Both also have two losses in the series.

Sims was seriously thinking about stepping down after last season,

But after he served as the defensive coordinator for his home state in mid-December in the prestigious Alabama/Mississippi All-Star football Classic in Mobile he returned home and had a talk with his wife as well as a change of heart.

“After talking with my family, coaches and administration, it became apparent that I still have the drive and motivation to continue teaching and coaching.” Sims, who guided PHS to its best record at 9-3 last season in 11 years, said. He has led PHS to five seasons in which it has won either nine, 10 or 11 games so far.

“I have been blessed with a supportive wife and family as well as a group of unselfish coaches who only want what is best for Pascagoula. I wanted to come back for at least one more season.”

Pascagoula has not only won four straight over MPHS but five out of the last six games also. Since coming over to PHS to begin the 2011 season, Sims has also pushed his Panthers into a somewhat comfortable lead in the all-time series.

In his first game of the series at the helm of the Panthers in 2011, PHS trailed slightly at 34-35-3 all-time 5-35-3. But with 10 wins since he became PHS head coach, Pascagoula holds a 44-37-3 advantage all-time.

In addition, PHS has shut MPHS out the past two years, including 31-0 in the 2023 season-opener. It marks the second time in the Sims era that the Panthers have blanked the Tigers in consecutive seasons, including 28-0 in 2014 and 13-0 in 2015. Those are the only two back-to-back shutouts recorded by either team in the past 64 years.

This year marks the 11th time in the past 13 seasons that the teams will open a new season against one another.

“It is even more exciting now that we play the first game against each other since we can’t play the last.” Sims concluded. “Both teams are 0-0 and both teams have dreams of region championships and gold balls. The ‘Boys of Fall’ in Pascagoula and Moss Point represent what is best in our world. While politics and other issues can try to divide us, football brings us together and keeps us together. It is the one constant. And for one Friday in August, I will not root for my Tigers, but I will every Friday after and hope they do same for us in Pascagoula.”