It took the Gautier High football team 25 years to finally reach a South State championship game.
And this season, as the Gators hope to regain such lofty heights, they’ll do so amidst quite a bit of change.
Gautier, which began playing football in 1997, enjoyed its best season ever on the gridiron last year finishing with a 10-3 overall mark and an appearance in the Class 5A South State game. Two of those three losses came to two-time defending state champion Picayune, as the mighty Maroon Tide dispatched the Gators 48-42 in overtime in the regular season finale and then once again three weeks later as Picayune took a 49-14 win in the South State finals.
Both games took place in Picayune, and the season-opening loss to Jackson Provine was on the road as well. Head coach Marcus High’s squad then put together an eight-game win streak before the first loss to Picayune. The Gators have won six straight home games entering the new campaign.
But gone is Gator standout quarterback Kaden Irving, as are several other key pieces of last year’s team. Also, the Mississippi High School Activities Association is expanding to seven classifications for the first time ever and Gautier is in a revamped Region 4-5A after remaining in Class 5A.
High enters his sixth season at the helm of the Gators, and he has guided Gautier to the Class 5A South State playoffs the past two seasons.
The new expansion brings a few new “neighbors” in the newly configured league for Gautier, as the new loop is now comprised of GHS, East Central, Vancleave, Stone, Laurel and Wayne County.
High and his Gators kick off the 2023 prep football campaign on Friday, Aug. 25th when Gautier hits U.S. Highway 90 and heads west for a trip along the coast to Gulfport to take on the home-standing Admirals in the renewal of the “Port City Classic”. That game is the second of two that night at historic Milner Stadium, following the Harrison County-Ridgeland game which kicks off at 5:30.
Here is the complete list of schedules for Region 4-5A this season:
REGION 4-5A
EAST CENTRAL
Coach: Sam Huff
A. 25 at George County
S. 1 Pascagoula
S. 8 at Lawrence County
S. 15 North Pike
S. 22 at St. Martin
S. 29 open
O. 6 Wayne County
O. 13 Laurel
O. 20 at Gautier
O. 27 at Vancleave
N. 2 Stone
GAUTIER
Coach: Marc High
A. 25 at Gulfport
S. 1 D’Iberville
S. 8 at Pascagoula
S. 15 Moss Point
S. 22 open
S. 29 at Columbia
O. 6 Vancleave
O. 13 at Wayne County
O. 20 East Central
O. 27 Stone
N. 2 at Laurel
LAUREL
Coach: Ryan Earnest
A. 25 at West Jones
S. 1 Hattiesburg
S. 8 Jefferson Davis County
S. 15 at Meridian
S. 22 at Oak Grove
S. 29 McComb
O. 6 at Stone
O. 13 at East Central
O. 20 Vancleave
O. 27 at Wayne County
N. 2 Gautier
STONE
Coach: Jacob Aycock
A. 25 at Biloxi
S. 1 Poplarville
S. 8 open
S. 15 St. Martin
S. 22 Quitman
S. 29 at St. Stanislaus
O. 6 Laurel
O. 13 at Vancleave
O. 20 Wayne County
O. 27 at Gautier
N. 2 at East Central
VANCLEAVE
Coach: Kevin Fant
A. 25 St. Martin
S. 1 at Gulfport
S. 8 at Forrest Co. AHS
S. 15 George County
S. 22 Hancock
S. 29 open
O. 6 at Gautier
O. 13 Stone
O. 20 at Laurel
O. 27 East Central
N. 2 Wayne County
WAYNE COUNTY
Coach: Jack Hankins
A. 24 at Oak Grove
S. 1 open
S. 8 Greene County
S. 15 West Jones
S. 22 at George County
S. 29 D’Iberville
O. 6 at East Central
O. 13 Gautier
O. 20 at Stone
O. 27 Laurel
N. 2 at Vancleave
