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 “Friday Night Rewind” here at SouthMiss6 Sports.

“Friday Night Rewind” 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 we’ll take a look back at the action that took place all across this region the previous week before we move on to the next week.

Here are seven things we noticed in the “Southern 6” Friday night:

1. Perfect Start — In 24 previous meetings that span the past 77 years, Ocean Springs had never scored as many as 40 points against Picayune on the football field. Friday night, however, the visiting Greyhounds had that covered in the first half alone. Visiting Ocean Springs scored at will in the first two quarters en route to a 56-42 win over perennial state power Picayune here at Lee-Triplett Stadium in a big showdown between a pair of teams that came into the contest unbeaten. The Greyhounds move to 4-0 and the Maroon Tide fall to 3-1 with the decision. Greyhound sophomore quarterback Chalmers Berglind threw for 326 yards and four touchdown passes in leading the way, and his classmate and running back rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns for the Greyhounds.
2. Perfect Start (Part 2) — West Harrison stands 4-0 for the first time ever. The Hurricanes thumped visiting Laurel 53-20 in the first-ever meeting between the two teams Friday night as West Harrison remained unbeaten on the season. Head coach Quincy Patrick has his Hurricanes off to a 4-0 start for the first time in program history. West Harrison had started off the past three seasons at 3-1, but was finally able to get over that hump and make it four straight wins for a team that first began play in 2009.
3. County Brawl — Poplarville snapped Pearl River Central’s three game win streak to start the season Friday night. The defending Class 4A state champion Hornets rolled into Kenneth Hendrix Stadium here and rolled out with a convincing win after thumping the home-standing Blue Devils 49-14 in a cross county showdown. Both teams now stand at 3-1 on the season, and Poplarville now has its own three game win streak.Hornet standout tailback Ty Keys followed up his record-setting performance against Hancock the week before with yet another solid outing, as he picked up 175 yards rushing on 17 carries and he scored a trio of touchdowns in the winning effort. Poplarville ran for over 400 yards on the ground, as Keys’ fellow backfield mate Remy Naquin ran for 126 yards and two scores as well.
4. Homecoming — For the first time in six years, St. Martin is off to a 4-0 start to a season. The Yellow Jackets celebrated not only Homecoming but their home-opener as well with a 35-0 thumping of visiting Hancock friday night. The decision not only moves St. Martin to 4-0 under new head coach Woddy Cagnolatti, but drops Hancock to 0-4 under new head coach Mikey King as well. It marks the first time since in 18 years, since going 0-10 in the 2007 campaign, that the hawks have begun a season at 0-4. The Yellow Jackets got a solid outing from their dynamic offensive back duo of quarterback Seth Crockett and running back Kevin Marshall in the latest win. Crockett accounted for almost 260 yards of total offense and three touchdowns, while Marshall scored three touchdowns and had a big blocked punt that led directly to a rushing score by Crockett as well.
5. Homecoming (Part 2) — Home-standing Gautier snapped a pair of short losing streaks with an impressive 37-0 shutout win over Moss Point for Homecoming Friday night. The Gators scored early and often in the renewal of this Jackson County rivalry and coasted to the win. The decision stappoed a two game losing streak for GHS, and moved head coach Marc High’s squad to an even 2-2 on the season. Also, it started a new home win streak for the gators after D’Iberville ended a school record 20 game span two weeks ago. Moss Point fell to 1-3 on the year, after snapping an 11-game losig streak last week with a home win over St. Stanislaus. Gautier running Latrell Pogue, a key piece of the Gator teams that made it all the way to the Class 5A state championship game last year, enjoyed one of the best outings of his career as he ran the ball just six times for 143 yards and scored four of Gautier’s five touchdowns on the night.
6. Panther Power — Gulfport placekicker Carter Platt pushed a potential game-winning field goal just to the right as the final horn sounded and Petal nipped the home-standing Admirals 25-24 Friday night at historic Milner Stadium. The decision drops Gulfport to 1-2 on the season, while the Panthers move to 3-1 in this battle of Class 7A foes. The game was a rematch from the opening round Class 7A South State playoffs match-up from last season, when the Panthers ended the season for Gulfport on a last second field goal that resulted in a 20-17 Petal win in this same venue.
7. Warrior Strong — D’Iberville popped Pascagoula 35-14 as versatile Warrior quarterback Jordan Walley ran for three touchdowns. D’Iberville is 4-0 for the first time since 2021, and Pascagoula falls to 1-3 fr the first time since that same season. The Panthers played their second straight game with starting tailback Amarie Jackson and quarterback Jason Glaude, and have lost three straight games.