Making a case for each South Mississippi Region 4-6A football teams to make the playoffs
High school football programs across South Mississippi are making final preparations as jamboree week nears and week one lurking right around the corner.
It’s the final season of the current class and district setup in the state before a seventh classification arrives and regions are shaken up on a bigger scale than the typical redrawing.
On the Gulf Coast, that means one last ride for the ultra-competitive Region 4-6A before the majority are moved up to a new weight class.
Only three different schools have won this region in the last 10 years, with Gulfport leading the way with five district titles since 2012. Ocean Springs is the favorite to repeat as champions this year, but the other three postseason spots are wide open for the taking.
Here is the case for each team in the area to make the playoffs.
Ocean Springs
The Greyhounds are coming off an undefeated regular season and have reloaded for another run on the Coast. Blake Pennock’s team returns 14 starters from 2021’s squad and are getting an immediate boost with the transfer of Harrison Central linebacker Eric Moore, Jr.
Moore, Jr, Keshawn Thomas and Trace Carter make up an uber-talented linebacker unit that promises to cause plenty of damage within Pennock’s aggressive 3-4 defense.
Bray Hubbard, the reigning 6A Mr. Football winner, returns for his final season after being responsible for 50 touchdowns a year ago. He’s got a familiar target in JP Coulter and a 6-foot-4 receiver in Christian White to work with.
Every district champion since 2017 has ran the regional table and the Greyhounds just might have to do it again in order to repeat as title-holders. Ocean Springs is an essential lock for the playoffs and will be looking for more once its there after a second-round exit last November.
Gulfport
The Admirals have been the standard-bearers of the last 10 years and are approaching the 2022 season with that mindset.
“We’re coming to get what’s ours,” head coach John Archie said at SMACM media days in Gulfport. “That region title belongs in Gulfport. I don’t want to be arrogant, but that’s what we’re coming to do. We’re coming to take back what’s ours.”
Confidence alone may not carry Gulfport, but 12 returning starters and an experienced quarterback in Jacob Palazzo just might.
Staff and player cohesion are also at a peak, as 2022 is Archie’s fifth season at the helm. A full cycle of high school athletes have worked under his tutelage and know what to expect.
Gulfport has one of the healthier rosters in the district and should give Ocean Springs a run for its spot atop the region.
Harrison Central
New head coach Tony Myers has plenty to work with from last season’s playoff team. Myers was elevated from offensive coordinator and he retained defensive coordinator Nicky Seymore, giving the Red Rebels staff continuity following Casey Cain’s retirement.
Myers has depth on both side of the ball and has star power in quarterback Christian Turner and defensive lineman Amarion Ware.
Offensively, Turner and the offensive line give Harrison Central a solid foundation to start on. The skill position cupboard is largely without experience, but new faces will have opportunities to shine with a more-than-capable leader behind center.
The top three tacklers from 2021 have moved on, but the key pieces from a ball-hawking secondary are back to terrorize quarterbacks once again. Kieron Jones and JT Robinson combined for 8 interceptions last year and Trevon Deans picked off 3 passes himself as a freshman.
The Red Rebels have some of the most athletic defensive backs on the Coast and can use that strength to put themselves in position to win a lot of games.
D’Iberville
You’ll be hard-pressed to find another team in the state with a challenge as tough as Josh Ladner’s in the homegrown head coach’s first season.
The Warriors bring back exactly one starter from last year’s team, zero players who recorded a tackle in 2021 and lost 35 total players who graduated in May. For many, it would be a daunting task. For Ladner, it’s an exciting opportunity.
“This is what I was born to do,” Ladner said. “From the moment I was put on this earth, I feel like every experience, both good and bad, was for me to be exactly where I’m at... something that I have thrived in my entire career is development.”
Ladner will be instilling the traditional hard-running and tough defensive values Warrior fans have long come to expect from the program. The lone starter back is quarterback Gage Peterson and he’s got a partner in the backfield in Aziyon Abraham, who averaged 8.5 yards per carry through three games last season before injuring his hip.
Reaching 10 wins again would be an incredible feat for this team, but it wouldn’t be wise to count out the winning-rich Warrior program from reaching the playoffs.
Pascagoula
Lewis Sims is the longest-tenured football coach in South Mississippi now and he knows firsthand how difficult this region can be. The Panthers have made the playoffs every year they’ve played at the 5A level under Sims, but are still searching for their first 6A postseason bid.
Pascagoula has the athleticism in the backfield between quarterback Keilon Parnell and running back Cameron Deflanders to keep defenses guessing. Both have the ability to make plays on the ground and were a big reason why the offense averaged over 30 points a game in 2021.
The defense gave up a school-record 357 points, though, but even marginal improvement can swing a couple of games in Pascagoula’s favor. The Panthers lost two district games against Harrison Central and D’Iberville by a combined four points last year.
If the ball bounces differently, and the defense gets a big season out of Jeffery Rush, Pascagoula could be making history in November.
St. Martin
The Yellow Jackets have had a rough go of it at the 6A level but legendary coach Eddie Whitehead proved that winning is possible at St. Martin. First-year head coach Ty Smith has a chance to build on the first real foundation the program has ever had.
Smith went to work this offseason nearly doubling the size of his roster and added a key transfer to the fold. Former Mendenhall quarterback and corner DK Jenkins steps in and gives the offense an instant threat. He’s paired on both sides of the ball with receiver and corner Noreel White, one of the top junior prospects in the state.
New defensive coordinator Derrick Jenkins, DK’s father, also has inside linebacker Gavin Allen back after recording 91 tackles as a sophomore.
The talent is here and so is the depth, though it is unproven. In a come-and-take-it region, St. Martin could be the dark horse in the fray.
Hancock
Hancock won 10 games in Neil Lollar’s first season back in 2017 and have not been to the playoffs since. Now in year six, Lollar has 14 returning starters, intriguing offensive weapons and a defense ready to make amends.
The Hawks will be led at quarterback this year by Dylan Moran, who played in seven games last season but never started.
The offense will still be power-run focused out of the pistol formation with Jeffrey Hopgood as the primary ball carrier, but Moran also has a 6-foot-2 receiver in Todd Dedeaux the team will look to spread the field with.
Hopgood, along with outside linebacker Jasper Talley, are the centerpieces of a defense that must improve after allowing 41.2 points per game in district play.
Hancock has an opportunity to go from winless in the region to sneaking into the postseason if the Moran-led offense clicks and the defense bounces back.
Biloxi
Katlan French’s team has sunk into a rebuilding phase, but it may not last long with 13 starters back between the offense and defense.
Biloxi has a lot of experience along both sides of the line of the line of scrimmage, giving the team a strong place to start its road back to the postseason. The Indians are replacing quarterback Deljay Bailey, who transferred to Petal, with Zach Marlin.
Marlin will have plenty of help from Vanderbilt commit Duran Parish at receiver and do-it-all athlete “Took” Norwood. Demaryion Fillmore and Aiden Harrison combined for 159 stops last year and return to lead the defense.
Biloxi fell just short after close losses to Harrison Central, Pascagoula and Gulfport last season. There’s plenty of reason for hope, though, with experience in all the right places and talented athletes across both sides of the ball.
