The Gautier Gators (1-1) will host the Pascagoula Panthers (2-0) on Friday in the 24th Singing River Classic.
The two cities are separated by the Pascagoula River, also known as the Singing River.
Until 1996, students from both Gautier and Pascagoula attended Pascagoula High School. The school was split when Gautier built its own. The two schools remained part of the Pascagoula School District, later to be changed to the Pascagoula-Gautier School District.
Both schools would have their own athletic programs and would compete in different classifications because at the time, Pascagoula had more students.
It was agreed that the two football programs would not play each other for six years and would continue to share War Memorial Stadium to play their home games. Vaughn-Wallace Stadium, the Gautier home field that is also known as The Swamp, opened in 2009.
The first matchup in 2002 lived up to the hype and started the cross-river district rivalry. Gautier was set out to prove it could compete with the larger Pascagoula and won the first game of the series in overtime 34-27.
The Gators went on to win the first five matchups and hold the ultimate bragging rights within the school district.
In 2007 and 2008, the Panthers would win close games but would fall once again to the Gators in 2009. Going into the 2010 game, the Gators led the series 6-2, and that is when the tide changed for next 10 seasons.
Pascagoula won the next 10 meetings, and that span was deemed “The Decade of Dominance” around the Pascagoula community.
In 2020, the Gators rolled into War Memorial Stadium and quickly flipped the script of this rivalry in a new Air Raid fashion on the arm of sophomore Kaden Irving as Gautier defeated Pascagoula 49-27.
Pascagoula went on to play in the South State championship that season and the Gators missed the playoffs for the sixth straight season.
The 2021 and 2022 Singing River Classic resembled the 2020 contest with Gautier winning 52-41 and 47-6.
The Gators made the playoffs in 2021 but lost in the first round against reigning 5A state champion West Jones.
However, in 2022, Gautier got over the hump, winning its first-round playoff game against Wayne County and second-round game against Vancleave before losing in the Gators’ first South State appearance.
Last season, the Gators jumped out to a 21-0 lead over the Panthers and appeared to be in full control of the game as in the previous three matchups.
But Pascagoula made adjustments on defense and its offense started to click as the Panthers pulled out a 28-27 victory to snap Gautier’s three-win streak in the series.
Both teams advanced to the playoffs. Pascagoula would lose to eventual state champion Picayune in the second round and Gautier would advance to its second straight South State championship before losing to Laurel.
A few stat lines going into this week’s playing of the Singing River Classic:
- Pascagoula leads the series 13-9.
- Panthers coach Lewis Sims has an 11-3 record.
- Gators coach Marcus High has a 3-3 record.
- The Pascagoula-Gautier School District has been represented in three of the last four South State championships.
