By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Gulfport can take another big step in winning its first region title on the football field in six years Friday night.

The Admirals head to neighboring league foe West Harrison in a key Region 4-7A encounter. Gulfport leads the region race at 2-0, while the Hurricanes are one step behind along with Ocean Springs and D’Iberville all at 2-1.

A win in this one is huge, as West Harrison fights for its first playoff berth in program history and for Gulfport two of their remaining three opponents are Biloxi and Harrison Central which are a combined 2-10 overall.

This is just the second all-time meeting on the football field between these two teams, and Gulfport won the only other meeting on the field 36-0 in 2019.

Also this week, St. Martin, which is suddenly fighting to keep its state playoff hopes alive, hosts long-time arch-rival D’Iberville in yet another key Region 4-7A showdown.

Both teams are coming off of losses last week, and the Warriors need a win to keep pace in the region race. The Yellow Jackets postseason hopes would greatly improve as well with a win.

The Warriors are 2-1 in the region race and the Yellow Jackets are 2-1. A loss by the home team, however, would place their possible playoff run on life support.

In the other league contest Friday night, Biloxi hosts Harrison Central.

Also, Ocean Springs has an open date after handing D’Iberville its first league loss last week.

The span after the open date on the schedule has been pretty kind to Ocean Springs head coach Jake Bramlett during his first two seasons at the helm of the Greyhounds.
Now, the third year mentor just hopes that trend continues over the next six weeks or so.
Ocean Springs rolled into its off week this week at 6-1 overall and coming off of a resounding 42-21 Region 4-7A win on the road over D’Iberville. The Greyhounds will carry a 2-1 league mark into next week when they remain on the road in region wars and head to West Harrison.

“We feel good about the progress we have made in a lot of areas,” Bramlett said, after practice Wednesday afternoon. “We are working this week to make our strengths the focal point for the final push of the season. We look different in some areas, due to injuries, but that’s part of football. You have to have a “next man up” mentality, and the team has to do what is necessary to pick up the slack.”

Ocean Springs running back Solomon Baggett ran roughshod over previously unbeaten D’Iberville for 235 yards and four touchdowns as the Greyhounds rolled past the Warriors at Warrior Stadium last week. The win helped OSHS bounce back from its first region loss in five years.

The past two seasons, OSHS has come out of the gate with five straight wins after its open date in 2023 and then seven straight after the bye week last year. A similar performance this season would vault the Greyhounds into a deep run in the upcoming Class 7A South State playoffs as they look to make their third trip in the past four seasons to the South State championship round as well as only their second trip ever to the overall state finals and first in 21 years.

This week, after taking a trip to Clinton to watch the Lady Greyhound volleyball team capture their first-ever state championship in program history, the Greyhound gridiron squad can keep an eye on their next foe as the Hurricanes host league-leading Gulfport in a key Region 4-7A affair.