By Curtis Rockwell/Sports Director

For the first time in eight years, Moss Point won’t have an open date to end the regular season this year.
The tigers recently revealed that they have added an out-of-state opponent to the final playing date on their upcoming slate, as Murphy High of Mobile will fill that date.
It will mark the first time since the 2018 campaign that Moss Point won’t face an off week in that slot on the schedule. Back then, it was a Region 8-4A contet against Bay High that ended the regular season for MPHS, as had been the case for the previous five seasons as well before that since the Tigers first dropped feom Class 5A to Class 4A.
But, in 2019, when the region dropped from six teams to just five, that meant that each team would have an open date in its regular season schedule once league play began.

This is the first time since that occurance that the Tigers will play will play 10 regular season games with no off week. The state playoffs in Class 4A start a week earlier than does the postseason in the three largest classifications, Class 7A-Class 5A.
Also, it will mark the first time as well since that same 2018 campaign that the Tigers have faced a foe from the state of Alabama. That year MPHS fell to Spanish Fort.

The meeting with Murphy, which will take place at home at Dantzler Stadium for “Senior Night” on either Thursday, Oct. 29th or Fri., Oct. 30th, will also be just the second for the Tigers against an out-of-state opponent in the past 25 seasons.
In addition, it will mark the 16th all-time meeting between Moss Point and Murphy on the football field, but first in 35 years, since the 2001 season.
The Tigers are coming off a 2-8 season last year under the direction of first-year head coach Derek Jenkins, in which they qualified for the Class 4A South State playoffs.

New Panther

When Moss Point opens the 2026 season on the road against arch-rival Pascagoula, the Panthers will have a new weapon to throw at the Tigers, perhaps on both sides of the ball.

Former versatile St. Martin standout Kevin Marshall has tranfered across Jackson County to join the PHS program. Marshall recently went through Srring Training drills with new head coach Zach Green.

Last season, Marshall, who has seen time at in the offensive backfield, in the slot and as a defensive back over the past two seasons for the Yellow Jackets, ended up with 28 receptions and five touchdowns as well as 85 total tackles and two inteceptions last year.

He also started at quarterback some as a sophomore.