By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

A pair of longtime arch-rivals in Harrison County both hit the road Friday night to renew series with old foes in week three of the prep football season.
But no, neither game will count in the Big 8 Coastal or Central Zone standings this time.
Both Biloxi and Gulfport face old foes for the first time each in quite some time Friday night.
The Indians head to Lee-Triplett Stadium in Picayune to take on the perennial state power Maroon Tide. The renewal of this all “Southern Six” affair marks the first game in the series that’s been dormant for 13 years.
The last time the two teams met was in 2012, and this marks the first meeting between the Indians and Maroon Tide in Pearl River County in 22 years, since 2003.
And even though Picayune has won four state championships since the last time Biloxi even won a single state playoff game, the Indians still hold a large lead in the all-time series at 28-9-2 thanks in large part to a 17 game win streak in the series back in the old Big 8 Conference days that ran from 1961 to the 1984 Shrimp Bowl.

That 1984 Shrimp Bow, the 45th annual at that point, also served as the District VIII Class 5A championship game. Picayune came into the game at a perfect 8-0, thanks to a pair of open dates that season, and was ranked as the top-ranked team in state. Biloxi came in at 7-3, and was a decided underdog.
The teams were knotted up at 7-7 at halftime, but a 37-yard field goal by Biloxi quarterback/placekicker Tony Burns and a 3-yard scoring plunge by BHS fullback Reginald Lowe put the Indians up 17-7 with nine minutes to play.
A late Picayune score wouldn’t be enough.
Picayune is 2-0 and BHS is 1-1 heading into this week.

Meanwhile, Gulfport is heading to historic R.H. Watkins Stadium in Laurel this week to face the Golden Tornadoes “Between the Bricks”.
This marks the first trip to Laurel for the Admirals in 26 years, since 1999. It also marks the first meeting between the two teams in 25 years, since the 2000 season.
Both teams are also still looking for their first wins of the new campaign, with Gulfport coming off of an open date at 0-1 after an opening week loss to Picayune while Laurel is off to a rough 0-2 start with losses to West Jones and Hattiesburg.
This is the 64th all-time meeting between these two old time Big 8 Conference foes, and GHS holds a slight 32-29-2 advantage.