South Mississippi coach’s milestone victory is the biggest story from Week 9
Week 9 served as a sorting week for most of the Mississippi Coast.
Teams across the area put themselves in position to secure pivotal postseason positions in the final weeks. One coach notched a milestone victory during his team’s playoff chase, four programs have officially been eliminated and one player is blossoming at just the right time.
Here are the top stories from the week.
Mr. 100
Pascagoula’s 42-0 win over Pearl River Central had a little extra meaning behind it. It was the 100th win for head coach Lewis Sims in his 15th season leading the program. Sims is the school’s winningest coach and by a pretty comfortable margin.
Sims is the longest tenured head coach on the Coast and his 131 wins going back to his time at Moss Point leads all active Coast coaches. The 131st win set the Panthers up with an opportunity to claim a first round home game when they face Hancock Friday.
Four boats leave the island
The first batch of playoff eliminations have arrived. Harrison Central (R4-7A), Bay High (R8-4A), St. Stanislaus (R8-3A) and Resurrection (R8-1A) had their fates sealed this past Friday, and they didn’t come as a surprise.
The group is a combined 3-30 and none have more than one win. It’ll be the second miss in a row for Harrison Central and Resurrection and the first since 2022 for Bay High. St. Stanislaus snaps the Coast’s longest playoff streak at 12 seasons.
Dennis is a menace
The Picayune Running Back Laboratory has a new creation: Xavier Dennis. The junior began the year with four 100-yard rushing games across the Maroon Tide’s first five contests. And then there’s been the last three.
Dennis opened district play with 245 yards and two touchdowns against Pascagoula. He served Hancock 340 yards and three touchdowns the following week. And then against Long Beach: 371 yards and four touchdowns.
He’s at 956 yards rushing with nine scores over his last three outings. Gautier is officially under a Dennis Warning.
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
