High school football is back in South MS. Here are the five biggest stories from Week 1
The opening week of high school football on the Mississippi Coast didn’t disappoint.
High profile games involving Coast teams played out and gave us glimpses of what to expect in the weeks ahead. Multiple schools came through with historic wins and dominant performances, so we’ll break down the biggest moments from the week here.
The final scores from every South Mississippi-involved team can be found at SunHerald.com, as well as the list of top performers from the first week.
Finally a win
St. Martin went 714 days in between wins but that drought was put to an end on Friday. The Yellow Jackets opened the season with a 24-14 home win over Vancleave to snap what had grown into a 17-game losing streak.
The trial by fire that was an 0-10 season in 2023 bore fruit in a more experienced defense. That unit held the Bulldogs to just 200 yards of total offense, came up with a 75-yard scoop-and-score and a safety.
The Jackets also debuted a new quarterback. Sophomore Kevin Marshall — who was a JV linebacker for Pascagoula a year ago — was a perfect 8-for-8 on the day for 80 yards and a touchdown. He showed off the athleticism with 113 rushing yards and a ground score.
Bearcats back?
If you didn’t buy stock in Long Beach preseason, the price may have just gone up. Long Beach snapped a four-game losing streak to Pass Christian in the Oyster Bowl with a 28-21 win on Friday.
Opposing coaches were cautious about the Bearcats during the preseason. Multiple coaches told the Sun Herald Jacob Massey’s team would be a much tougher one to prepare for than in years past with 17 returning starters and a 1,000-yard rusher in the backfield.
The Bearcats are now 1-0 for the first time since 2020.
Record-breaking performance
Pascagoula’s record books continue to be rewritten. Senior Southern Miss commit Silas Corder broke Shane Matthews’ 37-year-old record for career passing yards during a 48-0 win over Moss Point with 3,679 yards and counting.
Corder already broke Matthews’ career passing touchdowns record last season and added to it with three more scoring tosses Friday while only playing in the first half.
The Panthers have opened their season with a win over their rivals for the third consecutive year now. Expectations are high on the Pascagoula River with playmakers Amarie Jackson and Christian Campbell and touted defensive prospects Jaylon Parnell and Tylan Wilson.
Port City Bowl extras
Gautier punched up a couple of weight classes and got the knockout. Trey Irving found Devon Garrett for the game-winning touchdown in a 26-23 overtime win over Harrison Central.
The Gators have a speedy defense and used it to force five Red Rebel turnovers. Fred Nicholson covered plenty of ground, recording 10 tackles and two interceptions. Irving ran for a touchdown and GHS got a scoop-and-score from Denzel Larkin.
Gautier is one of the top 5A teams on the south side of the state and gave itself a tough non-district schedule to prepare for a late-season run. The Gators still have games with D’Iberville and Pascagoula ahead.
Here comes D’Iberville
It’s a big season for Josh Ladner and the Warriors and it started with a bang. D’Iberville got its revenge for a season-opening 40-17 loss to Columbia last season with a 51-15 beat down in the return trip Friday.
The Warriors had concerns about their offensive line depth coming into the season, but the front five opened running lanes that resulted five rushing touchdowns and four different running backs with 50-plus rushing yards led by Jayquan Havard’s 155.
D’Iberville will be tested to the fullest over the next three weeks with games against Gautier, Picayune and Pascagoula.
