By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

With the start of yet another prep football season across South Mississippi set for later this week, it’s time for our first installment of “A Look Ahead” here at SouthMiss6 Sports.

“A Look Ahead” has been a part of the journalistic fabric of prep football across the “Southern Six” for most of the past three decades. Each week of the season on Monday, we’ll take a look at the action set to kick off in that particular week all across this region.

Week one in the “Southern Six” this season is mostly an all “Family Affair”, as seven games in the footprint of our coverage area pit one “Southern Six” squad against another one.

We’ll kick this weekly feature off with a look at “7 games in the Southern 6” to keep an eye on this week:

1. Gulfport at Picayune (Game of the Week) — The defending Class 7A state champion Admirals head to Lee-Triplett Stadium to take on the perennial state power Maroon Tide in one off the biggest season-openers in the state this week. Gulfport headed up to Pearl River County and thumped Picayune 41-21 two years ago, but Picayune went on the road in week one last year and slipped past GHS 31-28. The Maroon Tide and the Admirals meet for the 12th consecutive season, and Picayune has won five-of-the past six outings.
2. George County at Gautier — These two teams face off in the opening week for the second straight year, after the Gators went on the road and smacked the Rebels in Lucedale at Gill-Martin Stadium 35-0 last year. The Gators also bombed the visiting Rebels 49-21 in 2022, to snap a three game GCHS winning streak in this series. Despite the loss in the last two meetings, GCHS has won 11 out of the past 15 contests dating back 25 years ago.
3. West Harrison at Poplarville — These two programs also kick off a new season against one another for the second straight season, as the Hornets make their first trip ever to WHHS. The Hurricanes celebrated their new status in Class 7A with an impressive 34-18 road win in Poplarville last season. That outing also marked the first time PHS ever faced a Class 7A foe in football. Poplarville, with a pair of Dandy Dozen products on board, has its sights set on a second Class 4A state championship trophy in three seasons.
4. Moss Point at Pascagoul — The 86th annual “Battle of the Cats” between these longtime arch-rivals takes place on the playing surface of Dutch Binion Field at War Memorial Stadium Friday night. This is the 12th time in the past 14 seasons that the Panthers and Tigers have opened the season against one another, after almost five decades of meeting in the regular season finale. Pascagoula has owned the series of late, going 11-2 on the field against MPHS since longtime head coach Lewis Sims left the Tigers to take the helm at PHS. The two teams didn’t meet in 2020 or 2021. The Panthers thumped the Tigers 47-0, making the total point differential in the past. three games at 126-0. New PHS head coach Zach Green gets his first taste of a long-running rivalry that the Panthers have won five straight in.
5. Pass Christian at Long Beach — The Pirates head east just a bit down U.S. Highway 90 a few miles to face the home-standing Bearcats at Lumpkin Stadium Friday night to kick off the upcoming campaign in the annual “Oyster Bowl”. This marks the 67th overall meeting between the two neighboring rivals, and the Pass pounded visiting LBHS 49-20 last year. The Pirates have won five-out-of-the last six meetings, but the Bearcats still lead the all-time series 41-24-1.
6. Vancleave at St. Martin — The Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs also once again open the season against one another, but this time in Barlow Stadium in west Jackson County Friday night. St. Martin blasted 64-21, and set a program record for most points in a game in doing so. This marks the fifth straight season the two Jackson County foes have met, as well as the 14th time since 2000.
7. Ocean Springs at Meridian — Once again this season, the Greyhounds and Wildcats get a one day head start on most other teams in the state as they go under the lights at Greyhound Stadium Thursday night to open the 2026 season. Ocean Springs, in its first trip ever regular season trip to historic Ray Stadium, smacked home-standing Meridian around 35-0 last year. The contest also marked the first time ever that the Greyhounds and Wildcats met in the regular season, as the four previous meetings all came in the state playoffs. The win last year for OSHS was also its first ever over Meridian.