And then then there were two.
Yes, only a pair of teams in the “Southern Six”, Hancock and Harrison Central, remain unbeaten four weeks into the current prep football campaign.
Raise your hand if you had that picked on your Bingo Card…
The Hawks moved to 4-0 and the red Rebel to 3-0 with big wins Friday night, while at the same time four other squads in our coverage area suffered their first losses of the season.
Here are 7 things we noticed in the “Southern 6” Friday night:
- What year is it? — Hancock is flying high at 4-0 for the first time in 23 years, after thumping Petal on the road 46-7. The Hawks racked up 506 yards of total offense, including 291 on the ground with most of that from senior tailback Zach Gullung who ran 24 times for 194 yards and three touchdowns. He caught a scoring pass from classmate quarterback Dylan Moran, who was superb as well completing 17 of 22 passes for 215 yards and the touchdown.
- Bouncing back — Picayune is finding different ways of doing just that recently. After seeing its state-wide best 27-game win streak end a few weeks back, the Maroon Tide hit the road for two consecutive weeks and have reeled off two consecutive wins. Picayune overcame a 21-0 first half deficit and scored the final 28 points of the game to pull out a 28-21 win over homestanding Gulfport Friday night at historic Milner Stadium. The win was the third in three attempts for the Tide over Class 7A competition this season.
- Dandy down — The latest win came at a high price for Picayune, however, as despite keeping their 29 game in-state win streak alive the Tide lost Dandy Dozen senior standout tailback Chris Davis as well Friday night. Davis injured his collarbone early in the game, and missed the remainder of the contest. As of now, he’s expected to miss most of, if not all, of the regular season.
Picayune running back Chris Davis picks up a few yards Friday early in a game vs. Gulfport (Photo by Albert Henrion/228Sports) - Tomahawk chop — D’Iberville head coach Josh Ladner has five wins in 15 games at the helm of the Warriors, and two of those are over Pascagoula. The Warriors won their sixth straight game over the Panthers in a 34-22 decision at home Friday night, marking the eighth time in nine tries DHS has beaten PHS in the past decade since the series was renewed after a 15 year break. The eight Warrior wins have come under four different head coaches, but all eight losses for the Panthers have come under veteran head coach Lewis Sims whose loss total to DHS is by far the most against any other opponent in his 13 years in charge at PHS. In addition, it was Pascagoula’s first loss of the season after three straight wins as well as D’Iberville’s first win of the season after three straight losses.
- Rebel yell — Or Red Rebel yell if you will. Harrison Central moved to 3-0 overall after smacking homestanding Tylertown 55-36 Friday night for its second consecutive road win in as many weeks. Red Rebel quarterback Tri Gaughf completed 13 throws for 215 yards and three touchdowns and Tyree Barnett proved to be one of Gaughf’s favorite targets as he hauled in six passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. Jaden Eckford ran for three scores as well, as HCHS got off to a 3-0 start for the second time in three seasons.
- Eagles soar — Under the direction of assistant head coach Scott Sisson, Resurrection shout out visiting Mt. Olive 23-0 Friday night. It was Sisson’s first time calling the shots for RCS in five years, since he retired at the end of the 2018 campaign after a highly successful run as Eagles head coach Sisson was filling in for Eric for the night for Denmark, and watched as senior quarterback Luke Schnoor threw for two touchdown passes and Ian Cumbest drilled three field goals in the win.
- Long road — Long Beach ended its state-wide longest 29-game on-field losing streak Friday night with an impressive 34-20 win over Purvis. It was the first win for the Bearcats since a season-opening 21-12 road win over West Harrison in 2020. Tailback Ronnie Brown had a long scoring run for the Bearcats early in the game, as Long Beach ruined Homecoming for the Tornadoes.
