Football In MS

If Petal had just scored like 2-3 more points vs NWR, it would’ve been enough to secure the top spot and push OG to 2nd. But instead Petal comes in at 3rd after looking like they’d easily take the region (undefeated in region play) 2 weeks ago. That’s just crazy business

Seriously. i thought this would be the year we’d finally see a different round 1 paring. Bless Biloxi. You know they are so tired of this.

Do you know which region has the advantage this year in 7A for South State if both 1 seeds win out?

So 7A Round 1 will feature: 1 Gulfport hosting 4 Brandon (this could be a good one!) and 2 NWR hosting 3 Diberville Paired with 1 OG hosting 4 Biloxi and 2 Ocean Springs hosting 3 Petal 7A was wild this year. Anything could still happen. Will definitely be watching down the stretch and hoping that these schools with livestreams during the season have the budget to pay for playoff livestream events. Good luck to all!

It looks like: 1 - Gulfport 2 - Ocean Springs 3 - DIberville 4 - Biloxi

7A South FINALS Brandon over Meridian 40-13 OG over Pearl 28-7 NWR over Petal 34 -28 This puts the following Region 3 teams into playoffs: 1 Seed - Oak Grove 2 Seed - NWR 3 Seed - Petal 4 Seed - Brandon

That’s a much better system, as long as only 1 title per classification is awarded.

2012 Pascagoula played Starkville in the championship game, but not in the largest class. They were 5A at the time and MHSAA had 6 classifications in 2012. The 6A game that year was South Panola vs Brandon. And yes, Ocean Springs (2004) and George County (2007) have each made one trip to the ship in the last 22 years. The other 20 appearances have come from Brandon, Petal, OG and Pearl.

Look, the data is there. Tell yourself whatever you want. We’re all about to find out which region is most prepared to run the gauntlet in playoffs. I’ll stand by my predictions until proven wrong

Yes, 2004 I think. And that’s more than 20 years. Back when there were only 5 classifications.

If 7A for MHSAA can include schools with this much variance in student populations: Desoto 1553 Lewisburg 960 then MAIS doesn’t need a “big 4” title either. MAIS tries too hard to make the $$ people happy - which just dilutes the meaning of competition. I’m sick of systems that coddle. You’re not the best if you don’t beat the best. And MS is not big enough for all that. We’re not Texas.

Officially, you’re right. No - it doesn’t count. But let’s not forget history. For the largest MHSAA classification, R4 is almost always weaker than R3 when it all comes down in playoffs. Now, there are some limited round 1 or 2 exceptions. HOWEVER... on the overall, history suggests that the R3 schedules better prepare those teams for playoff wins. This is evidenced by which regions are represented in the state championship game. I cannot find a coast team that has played in the largest classification of the MHSAA state championship game for 2 decades - be it 5A, 6A or 7A (I only searched back 20 years, but I feel like a generation’s worth of evidence is enough to lend credibility to the statement.) But if I’m betting on a OG/Gulfport matchup (i don’t bet), I’m taking OG. Gulfport has not beat OG in over 20 years. Records I’m looking at go back to 2003 and there is no Gulfport win recorded. Again, anything is possible. But I’ll go with R3 in the largest classification just about every time. Nobody from R4 has even made an appearance in the championship game from South State in almost 2 decades.

Playoffs are a new season

Until the R4 teams beat R3 teams in 7A, I just can’t buy that Gulfport and Ocean Springs are better than Petal and OG. Especially when OG already beat Gulfport pre-season

Yeah. If anything it exposes the lunacy in the MAIS & their 11 championship titles

Yes, it is. And the implications of MHSAA taking on private schools is an issue that extends far past football. Just pointing that out for anyone who hasn’t stopped to consider that fact.

This is about more than football. There are lots of sports under the MHSAA banner - including things like volleyball and girls soccer where this would be a huge issue

error

Unless there are MHSAA employees whose sole job is verification of home addresses for these private school kids, this 20-mile radius thing is a joke. If schools do not hold their own athletes accountable and checkup on them regularly, nobody knows the reality of the 20-mile radius situation when it comes down to where a student is actually living and sleeping every day. Idk why MHSAA ever began letting private schools crossover into MHSAA domain: but that’s where the problem began. And now nobody has the guts to either police it appropriately or shut it down entirely. In the current environment, private schools should have to sign affidavits stating they’ve verified all team members live within the appropriate radius AND are not being scholarshiped (paid) in any way before the season begins. And any school found in violation of this policy (no matter how big or small the violation) forfeits every win accumulated with the ineligible athlete on the team & forfeits playoff eligibility for 2 years. Enforcing a policy like that is the only way to even begin the attempt to even the playing field. But again - nobody has the guts to man up and implement a no-nonsense policy like this.

The way to fix it is to have schools who choose to be private be MAIS. Public schools can’t just choose to jump ship from MHSAA into MAIS on a whim. The same should be true in reverse. If you choose a private school for your kids, that’s your choice. But private school athletics (MAIS) should go along with it. Scholarshiped athletes shouldn’t be competing in the same division as non-scholarships athletes. And the power points thing is a symptom of a larger issue = the rules in MAIS. At the VERY least, if MHSAA is bound and determined to allow private schools with scholarshiped athletes to compete alongside MHSAA non-scholarshiped athletes, those MAIS should have to play up a class…or 2… to compensate for the scholarships.

Public schools don’t have to scholarship players - big difference. And at private schools, it’s commonplace to pay for kids to attend. Big difference. One schools system openly allows payment and the other does not - which makes consequences different if found breaking the rules.

MHSAA should kick out all the MAIS schools and go back to 6 classes. Done & done. MAIS schools have NO business crossing over to play in MHSAA unless they can provide legal documentation on every single athlete showing no scholarship was provided to the athlete/family for school attendance. (Which is impossible)

So the MAIS lost the 1 school the Jackson area liked to whip up on (PCS) and changed the entire system to make the remaining Jackson area 6A schools happy? This speaks volumes to the integrity of the MAIS. It’s trash.

That officiating was definitely questionable

So did these BHS guys quit the team or transfer schools or what? What’s going on