The Pascagoula Panthers host the Picayune Maroon Tide to open Region 4-6A play Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.
The contest has been selected as the “Kneed to See” Game of the Week sponsored by Bienville Sports Medicine Center/Encore Rehab.
This game has been marked on many calendars across South Mississippi since expansion and reclassification took place last season. The two-time defending Class 5A state champion Maroon Tide moved up to Class 6A this season, and the Panthers remained in that same classification. Region 4-6A, on paper at least, seems to be one of the most competitive leagues in the state.
Picayune was the clear-cut favorite to take the region crown in the pre-season, but the Maroon Tide hasn’t lived up to those lofty expectations just yet. And, fourth-year Picayune head coach Cody Stogner has never beaten the Panthers, who mastered the Maroon Tide 42-35 three years ago in the last meeting between these long-time rivals.
Pascagoula stands 4-1 on the season so far, while Picayune sits at 3-2. Both teams were off last week. Panthers veteran head coach Lewis Sims is in his 13th year at helm pf PHS, and is currently the longest-tenured head football coach in the “Southern Six”.
The game will feature the sports medicine staff from Bienville Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Center on the sideline providing the best in athletic care to each team.
The total team, which includes physicians, certified athletic trainers and support staff, is over 30 people. Dr. Jeff Noblin and Dr. Robert Terrell were the founders of the program over 20 years ago.
Dr. Noblin joined Bienville Orthopaedic Specialists in 1997 and is a co-founder and co-medical director of the Sports Medicine Center of Bienville Orthopaedic Specialists.
He completed a sports medicine fellowship with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs (1996-97), and has worked many time at the NFL combine that precedes the annual NFL draft each year.
He was an All-Southeastern Conference performer as a safety at the University of Mississippi in 1986 and honorable mention All-American that same year. He earned academic All-American honors in 1986.
He was the recipient of the SEC Scholar Athlete Award in 1986 and the recipient of NCAA and National Football Foundation Hall of Fame post-graduate scholarships that same year.
He is board-certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He is a 1991 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. He served as the President of the Mississippi Orthopaedic Society from 2009 to 2010.
Dr.Noblin and Dr. Terrell were the innovators of a Saturday morning sports medicine clinic in Biloxi over 20 years ago that treated pep players from across the “Southern Six” for any injury issues the morning after the games on Friday night. That service, along with many others that the physicians and staff at Bienville and Encore Rehab and still continues to this day.
Dr. Noblin’s wife, Sallie Baumhauer Noblin, is a Pascagoula High School graduate.
