Coast teams thriving in the playoffs, but not in 6A

A total of six Coast teams remain in the 1A, 4A and 5A playoffs, but there are none left standing in Class 6A.

All four squads from Region 4-6A lost Friday night and mostly in decisive fashion.

No. 4 seed Meridian thumped 4-6A champ Gulfport, 42-6. Oak Grove beat Ocean Springs, 31-20, and Petal eased past Harrison Central, 41-20.

In another lopsided affair, Brandon topped D'Iberville, 41-7.

It was a difficult end to what was an impressive career for D'Iberville head coach Buddy Singleton, who is set to retire.

"I said at the beginning of the year this was it for me," Singleton said Friday night. "We had an up and down season. The kids played well at times and then have poor games. It is a sour taste, but it was fun while it lasted, but not a good way to end it."

Singleton stands tall when discussing the history of D'Iberville football.

He served twice as the head coach of the Warriors, from 1968-87 and 2008-15. He also served as head coach at St. John in Gulfport from 1997-2003.

Singleton finishes with an all-time coaching record of 298-134-4.

While 4-6A teams are licking their wounds, the lower classification squads have plenty to be proud of.

A week after all four 8-4A teams won in the first round, the only 8-4A squad to lose Friday night was East Central in a double-overtime 26-20 loss at Lawrence County, which is 12-1 and expected to contend for a 4A state title.

Moss Point, St. Stanislaus and Vancleave all picked up impressive wins to move within one victory of the 4A South State title game.

Moss Point, which is the No. 4 seed out of 8-4A, suddenly looks like a 4A contender after picking up back-to-back playoff wins on the road. Led by five rushing touchdowns by Omni Wells, the Tigers (7-5) rolled to a 62-51 win at North Pike Friday night.

Next up for Moss Point is 8-4A champ St. Stanislaus, which won, 33-21, at Poplarville Friday.

Vancleave, which has won a playoff game in each of the last three years, has again come to life in the postseason under first-year head coach Lavon Capers.

The Bulldogs (6-7) beat 7-4A champion Purvis, 20-17, Friday to earn the right to host Lawrence County this week. Vancleave is in the South State semifinals for just the second time in the program's history after doing it for the first time in 2013.

If Vancleave wins this week, we'll be guaranteed an All-Coast 4A South State title game with either Moss Point or St. Stanislaus serving as the opponent.

While the Coast's 4A squads continue to exceed expectations in the playoffs, the results among 4-5A teams in the first round of the playoffs mostly went as expected.

Pascagoula (9-3) thumped Brookhaven, 36-8, and No. 2 Pearl River Central (11-1) made short work of Natchez, 52-7.

Picayune (5-7) had its season come to a close in a 58-28 loss at Wayne County.

For the second year in a row, Pascagoula will travel to Laurel in the second round of the playoffs. Laurel ended Pascagoula's season last year, 28-14, on its way to a 5A state title.

In what should be one of the most intriguing matchups in the state this week, PRC will host Wayne County (9-3) in the second round.

Following a 35-0 win over Sebastopol, Class 1A Resurrection Catholic (11-0) should be a heavy favorite when it travels Friday to Stringer, which it beat, 29-0, on Oct. 9.

The Coast is still alive and kicking in the playoffs, just not in 6A.

Contact Patrick Magee at pmagee@sunherald.com and follow him on Twitter@Patrick_Magee.

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Coast teams thriving in the playoffs, but not in 6A ."