By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
STARKVILLE — Just one game left.
And, as usual, Rock’s Locks is back to fill y’all in on it all.
Our semi annual Championship Weekend edition of prep picks is here.
Rock’s Locks is back in South Mississippi for yet another prep football season. Rock’s Locks was a steady feature in several daily newspapers (remember those?) across South Mississippi for much of the past three decades and has been a part of the journalistic fabric of prep football across the “Southern Six” for most of that time frame as well. Each week we will attempt to provide some insight with some prep pigskin prognosticator picks and provide you readers with much material to ridicule me with I am sure.
Last week we were 5-2 in our yearly “Black Friday” edition of Rock’s Locks, to move to 130-43 so far for a winning percentage of 76% on the season. This one if for all the marbles in the largest classification in the state as Gulfport faces Tupelo Saturday night for the Class 7A state championship trophy…
There is also a bit of an ironic twist in this one, as the game is being played at Davis-Wade Stadium in Starkville on the campus of Mississippi State University, because both senior standout running backs on each team signed football scholarships with MSU on Wednesday on “National Signing Day”.
Here’s what you need to know if you’re heading up for the game or not…
Tickets:
Parking
Television:
(subject to change)
Jackson – ME TV – WAPT Channel 16.2
Gulf Coast – WLOX – Bounce 13.2
Northeast MS – WCBI-MY MS – Channel 4.2
Meridian – WTOK – myTok 11.2
Hattiesburg – WDAM – BOUNCE 7.3
Cleveland – WHCQ – Channel 8.1
Clarksdale – WPRZ – Channel 12
Oxford – WEBU – Channel 22.1
Streaming:
Radio:
MHSAA (neutral) Broadcasts:
– ESPN Radio 105.9 FM
– Mississippi Public Broadcasting
Individual School Broadcasts:
– Vary by school/game
So, there’s only one last thing to do…
Gulfport vs. Tupelo — This is the first meeting ever between the Admirals and Golden Wave on the football field, and it just happens to come in the last game of the 2025 football season in the state of Mississippi. Tupelo, the defending state champs in this classification, is a strong 13-1 overall and coming in on a nine game win streak and has won 27-out-of its last 28 games after going 14-0 in its march to the crown last season. Gulfport sits at 11-2, which is tied for the most wins in a single season in program history, and has won 10 straight games coming in. The Admiral defense will be the key, but we’ll stick with the defending champs playing just over an hour away from home. Tupelo 24, Gulfport 21.
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