By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
STARKVILLE — When Gulfport meets Tupelo for the Class 7A state championship here Saturday night the Admirals are looking to make history on several fronts.
The woes of the nine programs that have competed on the gridiron from the three southernmost counties in the state in Class 5A, then Class 6A and now Class 7A have been well documented over the past two decades. In fact, Gulfport is the first team from the three immediate Gulf Coast counties to even play for a state championship in the largest classification since Ocean Springs did so in 2004, some 21 years ago.
The Admirals have never won a state football championship in the history of the program in the 44 years since a state-wide playoff system was implemented in the state. In their only other trip to the finals, West Point slipped past Meridian 21-14 in 1982.
The last time a team from the three Gulf Coast counties won a state title in the largest classification was 25 years ago, when Moss Point blasted Clinton 45-14 in the final game of the 2000 season.
But, on Saturday night, the Admirals can etch a milestone into the history books of not only the GHS football program itself, but for the Mississippi Gulf Coast as well.
Here is the 2025 MHSAA Football State Championship schedule. All games will be played at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville.
MHSAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville
THURSDAY
CLASS 1A
4 p.m. — Calhoun City (12-1) vs. Simmons (12-0)
FINAL — Calhoun City 14, Simmons 8
CLASS 5A
7:30 p.m. — West Point (13-0) vs. Brookhaven (11-2)
FINAL — Brookhaven 31, West Point 19
FRIDAY
CLASS 4A
4 p.m. — Kosciusko (13-1) vs. Columbia (14-0)
FINAL — Columbia 6, Kosciusko 0
CLASS 6A
7:30 p.m. — Warren Central (11-2) vs. Hattiesburg (11-2)
FINAL — Warren Central 56, Hattiesburg 34
SATURDAY
CLASS 3A
Noon — Noxubee County (11-3) vs. Raleigh (13-1)
FINAL — Raleigh 12, Noxubee County 6
CLASS 2A
3:30 p.m. — East Webster (13-1) vs. Heidelberg (12-2)
FINAL —
CLASS 7A
7 p.m. — Tupelo (13-1) vs. Gulfport (11-2)
FINAL —
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