By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

To borrow a line from that Classic rock and roll band Foreigner, there’s a reason it “Feels like the first time” for the Gulfport football team this week.

Because it is.

It will have been a week of “firsts” for the Admirals on Saturday night when all the dust settles after the Class 7A state championship contest in Starkville at Davis-Wade Stadium on the campus of Mississippi State University.

• Last Friday, Gulfport played in its first South State championship game since 1999.
• Also, last Friday, the Admirals hosted a South State championship contest for the first time in 34 years.
• And, that 40-7 thumping of Brandon punched Gulfport’s ticket to its first-ever trip to the overall state championship round for the first time in 43 years.
• Also, in said Class 7A state title tilt, the Admirals will face perennial state power and defending state champion Tupelo for the first time ever as well in that showdown for the Gold Football.
• In addition, Gulfport head coach Blake Pennock, who has been a head coach for just seven years overall, will not only be leading a team into the state championship game for the first time ever but will be involved in the Monday press conference associated with the seven state title tilts.

The Admirals face the Golden Wave at 7:00 p.m., Saturday night for all the marbles in the largest classification in the state. That game will be the final of a three day, seven game schedule for the last weekend of high school football in the state.

It’ll mark the second straight trip to the Class 7A state championship contest for Tupelo, after the Golden Wave beat Brandon 28-16 for the title last year in Hattiesburg at M.M. Roberts Stadium on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi.

The win gave THS it’s second state championship ever in the history of the program after winning the crown also in 1992.

The Golden Wave sits at 13-1 overall coming into the title tilt, and Tupelo has won 27-out-of its last 28 games after going 14-0 last year with a lone loss to perennial state power West Point 28-21 earlier this season the only blemish.

Tupelo slipped past visiting Oxford 21-20 Friday night in the Class 7A North State title tilt to find its way back to the final round.

Meanwhile, as THS is on a nine game win streak currently under sixth-year head coach Ty Hardin, Gulfport is on a 10-game winning streak under third-year head coach Blake Pennnock.

The Admirals are looking for their first state championship on the football field in school history since a state-wide playoff system was implemented in Mississippi. The only other appearance in the final round came in the 1982 season, the second year of a state-wide playoff system, when the Admirals fell to West Point 21-14 at historic Ray Stadium in Meridian.

Pennock has guided Gulfport to a season firsts in ohter areas as the Admirals get set to take the big stage. Gulfport won three straight home games at home for the first time ever in the program history.

Also, the Admirals captured the first region title in six seasons, and the win over Brandon Friday moved Gulfport to 11-2 overall and set a new program record for wins in a single season.