By Curtis Rockwell/Sports Director

Forty-five years ago, prep football teams across the state of Mississippi were playing for something new for the first time ever.

Just before the 1981 season began, the Mississippi High School Activities Association implemented a state-wide playoff system for high school football. And while no “Southern Six” squad made it to the four state finals games, several had something to say about who did indeed get there.

The four classifications in the beginning were Class AA, Class A, Class BB and Class B.

Both Pascagoula and D’Iberville qualified for the postseason in 1981, and the Warriors hosted the Panthers in one of the first “playoff games” ever in the state of Mississippi in November.

And, the Panthers and Warriors will meet this week for the 15th time, after that first initial meeting in what many remember as the first actual “playoff” game in the “Southern Six” 45 years ago.

That season, PHS, a longtime member of the mighty and prestigious “Big 8 Conference”, finished a mediocre 4-6 in the regular season and had to beat Moss Point in the regular season finale to win what was then called Class AA District 8 North.

After starting the season off at just 1-5 overall, Pascagoula finished ahead of MPHS, Gulfport, Biloxi and Picayune in the league standings.

The Panthers were also honored as Coastal Zone Big 8 champs.

Meanwhile, D’Iberville, which had emerged as one of the long-time powers in the “Pascagoula River Conference” cruised through the regular season with a solid 9-1 mark with only a 21-14 loss to Long Beach in week two as the lone blemish on that record.

The Warriors claimed the top spot in what was then called Class 2A District 8 South, beating out George County, Ocean Springs, LBHS, St. Martin and Harrison Central.

And so, after PHS escaped with a 20-17 home win over Moss Point to wrap up regular season play and DHS shutout OSHS 14-0 on the same night, the stage was set for the postseason.

D’Iberville hosted Pascagoula on Friday, Nov. 13th, and the Panthers came away with a hard-fought 12-7 win.

“The Stuff about it being Friday the 13th didn’t bother us,” then PHS head coach Mike Battles, Sr., said. “We just came to play football.”

Reports of the game stated that “the Panthers overcame an early 7-0 deficit with a stingy defense and a ball control offense”, in earning win win.

Keith Talley scored for DHS on a 6-yard run in the first quarter, thanks to a key block by Warrior fullback David Russell.

Pascagoula responded late in the first half, as running back Joey Anderson took a pitch 5-yards for a score. A missed extra point left it at 7-6 DHS at halftime.

The only scoring in the second half came on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Pascagoula’s Lee Vance, which proved to be the winning points after the defense threw a shutout over the last two quarters.

“They were fired up to play a Big 8 school and we didn’t have anything to prove by beating them,” Battles said, afterwards.

Pascagoula’s season came to an end the next week at home when South Natchez pounded the Panthers 41-0.

The Colonels would then go on and win the first ever Class AA state championship with a 21-6 win over Starkville two weeks later.

• This week is the 15th meeting overall Pascagoula and D’Iberville on the football field, but 12th in the last 13 years. After that first meeting in 1981, the series set dormant for 16 years until 1997. Then, in 1998, the series went silent again for 15 years until 2013. Pascagoula snapped a six game losing streak to the Warriors two years ago with a 21-7 home win at War Memorial Stadium, the site of this game Friday night. But, the Warriors bounced back last year for a 35-21 win at home. The Warriors still hold a commanding 10-4 lead all-time in the series, even despite that first loss in the initial meeting 45 years ago.