By Curtis Rockwell (Sports Director) and Veto Roley (Sports Writer)/SouthMiss6 Sports

PASCAGOULA – In what may have been the last game of a storied rivalry, Pascagoula easily defeated Moss Point 44-0 Friday night in the 86th annual “Battle of the Cat’s here at War Memorial Stadium.
In doing so, the Panthers recorded their fourth consecutive shutout of the Tigers and extendied their defensive scoreless streak in the rivalry to 17 quarters. 
Also, the point margin over the past four meetings now stands at 170-0, the largest in a four game span in the history of the program. It also marks the first time ever in the history of the series that dates back to 1925 there has been four straight shutouts posted in the annual affair.

With the win, Pascagoula, a Class 6A school, takes their sixth consecutive victory in the historic series and raises their record to 46-37-3. The Pascagoula winning streak is their longest since 1951-56, when the Panthers again won six consecutive games. Pascagoula also dominated the opening games of the series going 7-0-1 from 1925 to 1933, with the two teams playing to  a 0-0 tie in 1927 with Pascagoula winning the next five games. The game was not played for 15 years with Moss Point winning 24-0 and 21-0 in 1948 and 1949. From 1991 to 2002, Moss Point won 12 of 13 games, sandwiching two six-game winning streaks around a 17-14 PHS win in 1996.
Despite the recent history of the game, Moss Point head coach Derrick Jenkins said he would like for the series to be continue. 
“We enjoy playing in this game,” said Jenkins, who is just beginning his second season at the helm of the Class 4A Tigers. “And, we will continue to play as long as Pascagoula schedules the game. The game gives us a really physical game going into district play.

Jenkins also noted the closeness of the two teams and the historic nature of the rivalry. “A lot of people don’t want to see the game continued to be played,” he said. “But just a street separates us. It’s a game where they know us. Keeping the rivalry also has the support of many people in the two communities.” 
New Pascagoula head coach Zach Green said that he would let the “higher-ups handle” the decision on whether they two teams will continue to meet after Friday’s game. But he also noted that his team doesn’t “get any better as a football team playing the game.”
Green replaced Lewis Sims at the helm of the Panthers, when Sims stepped down after 15 years leading PHS.
Sims played at Moss Point and also served as head coach of the Tigers for several seasons before jumping across Jefferson Street and taking charge of the Panthers.

He played college football at the Naval Academy. He is the only head football coach in history to ever lead both programs.
So he has a unique perspective on the long-running rivalry.

“After being around, playing in, and coaching (for both sides) in this storied rivalry, it pains me to even consider a football season that does not include the storied “Battle of the Cats”,” Sims said, Sunday afternoon. ” Heck, I was the head coach at MPHS when the Tigers finally took the lead in the series in 2010, and took the lead back in 2012 in one of the most exciting games ever played between the two teams with a last minute touchdown, a play called by Moss Point’s own Kevin Fant (former Tiger player and PHS assistant coach, and now the head coach at Vancleave).

“The purpose of the history lesson is to broaden the aperture of what has happened in the last 6 games. It is not that one side has not dominated the other for extended periods of time, Coach Alexander only lost to Pascagoula in 1997, 2003, and 2007. Since 2008, MPHS has a total of five wins, two since 2011. There are teams that continue to play out of tradition, for example, Navy plays Notre Dame each year and is 4-59 since 1960.

It is a financial wind fall for Navy and the game is competitive from time to time, in fact, my three kids went to their first college football game in Jacksonville and watched Navy upset the Irish.. So is it unheard of to keep playing out of tradition? No. Would it benefit both programs to end the rivalry? Possibly.

“For the fans, and die-hard traditionalist, it is a hard pill to swallow. For the coaches and players, being objective, neither team is better because of this past Friday night. Can a crushing defeat at the hands of your rival kill a season? Yes. Can it handicap your team with the loss of a key player or two? Yes. Will it give the victor a false sense of bravado that places rose-colored glasses on the eyes of adoring fans, players, and coaches alike? Of course.

“So the question is, should it end? And the answer is, from this humble retired coach of the Panthers and a proud 1990 graduate of Moss Point High School. . ., that is a very good question. Part of me says yes, end it. Make it a jamboree and move on. Yet, as a Tiger at heart who has always been an underdog and cherished the opportunity to shock the world whenever possible, I say no.

“Stephen King penned, “Hope Springs Eternal!” And on Dantzler Street, at Jerry Alexander Stadium, any Tiger worth his stripes will always want one more chance to notch a “W” vs. Goula. So for all purists and all the nay-sayers, and all the so-called pragmatist. . .maybe a hiatus is in order, pause it for a cycle, reevaluate in 2 years, and if both are ready, play again. It is not unprecedented, 1934-48 is an example.

“Whether or not people agree, that is my take on a most untenable situation!”