By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

D’IBERVILLE — The annual battle between longtime neighborhood rivals D’Iberville and St. Martin takes center stage in Region 4-7A play this week.

The Warriors host the Yellow Jackets in a key league encounter after each team experienced different results last week. D’Iberville, which is 7-0 for the first time in six years, needs a win to not only take another step towards returning to the Class 7A South State playoffs for the third straight season but also set up a showdown with Gulfport for all the marbles in Region 4-7A soon as well. D’Iberville sits alone atop the region race at 3-0 currently, with the defending Class 7A state champion Admiral sitting close behind at 2-0 after smacking St. Martin 42-14 last week.

That was the first loss of any kind of the campaign for the Yellow Jackets, who are 2-1 and in the third spot in the league standings and 6-1 overall.

St. Martin’s postseason hopes would greatly improve as well with a win this week.

Last week, one of the biggest regular season games in St. Martin history turned out to be a great night for Gulfport. The Admirals completely dismantled the previously unbeaten and home-standing Yellow Jackets 42-14. St.Martin was off to the first-ever 6-0 start in program history

Gulfport scored a touchdown on their first five possessions in the first half, and then after missing a field goal late in the second quarter the GHS defense got in on the action with a score of their own. Admiral quarterback Jackson Wolverton threw for three first half touchdowns, two to Javious Hales, and Gulfport running back Jo Jo Thomas ran for two more scores in that same time span.

Meanwhile, D’Iberville quarterback Jordan Walley threw for 217 yards and a touchdown and ran for 115 yards and three touchdowns as the Warriors turned back an upset-minded Ocean Springs squad 35-14.

It marked the first DHS win over OSHS since 2020, snapping a five game losing streak to the Greyhounds. Linebacker Roman Green led the D’Iberville defense with 15 total tackles and three tackles for loss, including two sacks.

This marks the 65th all-time meeting between D’Iberville and St. Martin, and the series has been completely dominated by DHS over the years. The Warriors have won seven straight over St. Martin as well as 21-of-of-the-past-22 games dating back to 2003 in taking a commanding 52-11-1 all-time lead in the annual affair.