By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Ocean Springs hosts Biloxi Friday night as the Greyhounds celebrate Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Greyhounds are in search of their school record 25th consecutive region win as they welcome in their neighboring rival Indians to open Region 4-7A play this season. This marks the 53rd all-time meeting between these two old rivals on the football field, and the all-time series is just about as close as any in the “Southern Six”.

Ocean Springs hasn’t lost a region game since moving up to Class 7A. In fact, the last Greyhounds loss came almost five years ago at the end of the 202 regular season in a 35-28 decision at the hands of Harrison Central.

A 34-14 win by OSHS last season pushed the Greyhounds up by two, at 27-25, in the all-time affair. In fact, Ocean Springs has now won eight straight games in the series, and needs one more win to set a record of nine straight victories in the all-time series.

In addition to the current streak, the Greyhounds also won eight straight over Biloxi from 2003-2010. Ocean Springs comes in at 4-0 for its Homecoming contest, while Biloxi is off to a 1-3 start.

The 53rd all-time meeting on the football field between Ocean Springs and Biloxi comes on the heels of a huge road win on the road last week over perennial state power Picayune 56-42. The Greyhounds got a stellar outing from sophomore quarterback Chalmers Berglind, as he went 10-of-13 passing for 326 yards with four touchdowns, both career highs. A pair of those scoring strikes went to his big brother and tight end Wyatt Berglind, who caught three passes for 82 yards and the two touchdowns.

Sharriod Whitehead just had two receptions, but they went for 131 yards and a key 99-yard touchdown.

Ocean Springs also gave the Maroon Tide a double dose of a dynamic duo out of the backfield from running backs Lanny Waltman and Solomon Baggett, as Waltman ran the ball 11 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns, and Baggett added 108 yards rushing and two scores as well.

Meanwhile, Biloxi is coming off of a 23-6 loss on the road at Hattiesburg. It was the 85th all-time meeting between the two old Big 8 Conference rivals on the football field.

With region play looming next week, Biloxi picked a bad time to play its worst game of the young season as

the Indians sputtered offensively, and finally wore down in the second half in the 23-6 defeat.

The Indians’ only win of the season came in a 21-18 decision at home over Pascagoula several weeks ago.