By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

With the start of yet another prep football season across South Mississippi last week, it’s time for our fourth 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 was mostly an all “Family Affair”, as eight out of the 16 games in the footprint of our coverage pitted one “Southern Six” squad against another one. While there aren’t quite that many on tap this week, there’s still quite a few interesting battles ahead.

Here are “7 games in the Southern 6” to keep an eye on this week:

1. Ocean Springs at Picayune (Game of the Week) — Many folks felt like this would be a match-up of the top two teams in the “Southern Six” when it was announced that this rivalry was renewed, and those folks were right. Both the Greyhounds and the Maroon Tide come into the match-up this week unbeaten on the season at 3-0. This marks the 25th all-time meeting between these two teams on the football field, and the series is extremely close with Picayune up 13-11 after an exciting road win 38-35 over OSHS last season. This marks the seventh meeting this century, and the teams have split the last six games evenly at 3-3 since 2003 in a series that dates back to 1948.
2. Pascagoula at D’Iberville — The Panthers head to Harrison County for the first of two trips this season to face an undefeated Warrior squad. Pascagoula sits at 1-2 after two straight losses, and DHS is 3-0 for the first time in four years. This is the 14th meeting overall for these two teams on the football field, but 11th in the last 12 years. Pascagoula snapped a six game losing streak to the Warriors last year with a 21-7 home win at War Memorial Stadium. However, the Warriors still hold a commanding 9-4 lead all-time in the series.
3. Biloxi at Hattiesburg — The Indians head to D.I. Patrick Stadium on the campus of Hattiesburg High for the 85th all-time meeting between Biloxi and the Tigers this week. This series dates back 103 years, and Hattiesburg holds a 46-36-2 all-time advantage in the affair with many of those battles being staged back in the old Big 8 Conference Days. Both teams sit at 1-2 overall coming into this one, and both are coming off of losses last week. The Tigers pulled ou a hard-fought 12-7 win at The Biloxi Sports Complex last year.
4. Hancock at St. Martin — The Hawks and Yellow Jackets face off for the 38th time Friday night, and for the second straight season in St. Martin. St. Martin snapped a short two game losing streak in the series with an exciting 22-21 win in overtime last season. This will mark the 15th consecutive season that these two teams have met on the gridiron in a series that dates back to 1960 and was renewed in 2011 when the current streak started after an absence of almost a decade. Both teams have new head coaches in place, as St. Martin comes in with a perfect 3-0 start under Woody Cagnolatti while Hancock is still looking for its first at 0-3 under Mikey King.
5. Moss Point at Gautier — The Tigers finally snapped an 11 game losing streak with a home win over St. Stanislaus last week, and now they head west for a short drive to renew this Jackson County rivalry with the Gators. Both teams are 1-2 on the season, and Gautier is coming off of two straight losses, including a 47-17 loss on the road to West Harrison last week. This game marks the 21st all-time meeting on the football field between these two foes, in a series that dates back to 2001. Moss Point leads the series 12-8, but Gautier has won four straight and five out of the past six games after a 48-33 win last year.
6. Poplarville at PRC — Pearl River County rivals that are both off to solid starts face off inin the resumption of this series this week. The Blue Devils are rolling at 3-0, and the defending Class 4A state champion Hornets sit at 2-1. This marks the 68th meeting all-time between the Hornets and Blue Devils on the gridiron, with Poplarville holding a commanding 45-22 advantage, including seven straight wins. Poplarville stopped visiting PRC 41-28 last year.
7. Pass Christian at St. Stanislaus — Two teams coming off rough losses last week square off at Brother Philllip Memorial Stadium this week as the Rock-A-Chaws welcome in the Pirates. This is the 50th all-time meeting between the two long time rivals, with SSC leading 25-22-2 after a big 47-10 win by PCHS last year. The Pirates have also won four out of the past five games in the annual affair.