Best Championship Series in years

[Wareaglefan1us]

Slick and I were texting back and forth all weekend about the games. We learned two things over the weekend.

1) if we picked your team we’re sorry because they probably lost lol We are not very good prognosticators.

2) these were some of the best matchups in years if not ever. 
Congratulations to all the teams who played for a title. It’s an honor to be in that position. If you were lucky enough to win enjoy it. The Kid from Gulfport made the memory of a lifetime with that game winning catch.

[maroontide06]

36 minutes ago, Wareaglefan1us said:

Slick and I were texting back and forth all weekend about the games. We learned two things over the weekend.

1) if we picked your team we’re sorry because they probably lost lol We are not very good prognosticators.

2) these were some of the best matchups in years if not ever. 
Congratulations to all the teams who played for a title. It’s an honor to be in that position. If you were lucky enough to win enjoy it. The Kid from Gulfport made the memory of a lifetime with that game winning catch.

I honestly didn’t know how you could top the Poplarville-Louisville game from last year, but that Gulfport-Tupelo game blew that one away.  What an awesome game.

[Chunky6617]

Man it really was a great weekend. Best in a long time. 

[Archer]

Congrats to Gulfport. 
 

And thanks for breaking thru for the coast after 25 years of non-representation of champions in the highest classification.

[hasbeen67]

It seemed to me defense at all levels of football had been under-emphasized and not very good the last few years. Some of these games showed some pretty good defense. NFL and college are back up some as well. Tackling had gotten really bad as they emphasized the targeting calls. Everyone seems to be adjusting now. Anyone else feel this way, or just me?

[Chunky6617]

There definitely were some defensive battles this year, but that could also have been due to the weather a little bit. 1A, 3A, 4A, and 7A were defensive games and the 2A game was a good mixture of good offense and defense 

[slicklizard]

It’s the best in my too long to admit years of going to them or watching at home.

I was pretty much on the edge of my seat throughout all seven. WC/ Hattiesburg was highly competitive until it got away from Hattiesburg in the second half.

 

How was that drive and experience for south people that went up there?

[Vott]

11 minutes ago, slicklizard said:

It’s the best in my too long to admit years of going to them or watching at home.

I was pretty much on the edge of my seat throughout all seven. WC/ Hattiesburg was highly competitive until it got away from Hattiesburg in the second half.

 

How was that drive and experience for south people that went up there?

Not a bad trip overall. The ride back from Starkville to Meridian on HWY 45 was the worse. Other than that it was a good trip. 

[maroontide06]

11 minutes ago, Vott said:

Not a bad trip overall. The ride back from Starkville to Meridian on HWY 45 was the worse. Other than that it was a good trip. 

There’s a good bit of Hwy 45 in that stretch that needs to be repaved.

[Vott]

7 minutes ago, maroontide06 said:

There’s a good bit of Hwy 45 in that stretch that needs to be repaved.

. Maybe I was just tired and a little down from losing. When i hit 59 south it was like new energy. Lol

[Rebel Bert]

Once u get on 25 at Lena, Carthage, or Louisville its not that bad. 13 north of Morton is like I-20 east of Jackson. They will soon as the clearing is finished between Pelahatchie and Brandon they will begin removing I-20 and a complete rebuild. So if your traveling from Meridian to Jackson I would suggest to take an alternate route. 

[Bulldogs4]

Tupelo-Gulfport has to rival the 2008 SP-Meridian game as one of the all time great finishes. 

[pancho]

this^

[Dubaction]

Pretty much every game went how I wanted it to go. At least the larger classes. Was good to see someone knock off WP because I had zero faith in 5a south and boy was I wrong. Also good to see Tupelo get humbled a bit. They thought they’d run away with it this year. We don’t get much support from the Hattiesburg guys so… seeing them choke the big one is always fun. 

[Vott]

1 hour ago, Dubaction said:

Pretty much every game went how I wanted it to go. At least the larger classes. Was good to see someone knock off WP because I had zero faith in 5a south and boy was I wrong. Also good to see Tupelo get humbled a bit. They thought they’d run away with it this year. We don’t get much support from the Hattiesburg guys so… seeing them choke the big one is always fun. 

That is true about the support from the Hburg people. One thing I can say about Petal HHS and OG is if one of them is playing for a state title you can bet the other two teams are hoping they lose. That has been going on for as long as I can remember. It stemmed mostly from back in the days when all 3 were more known for baseball than football. 

[pancho]

4 hours ago, Dubaction said:

Pretty much every game went how I wanted it to go. At least the larger classes. Was good to see someone knock off WP because I had zero faith in 5a south and boy was I wrong. Also good to see Tupelo get humbled a bit. They thought they’d run away with it this year. We don’t get much support from the Hattiesburg guys so… seeing them choke the big one is always fun. 

The Tupelo QB being injured and not playing the entire second half saturday was part of the issue.  He looked slow and avoided contact early and showed little promise.  

[Rebel Bert]

Heidelberg parents were not happy that their boys had to dress in a makeshift tent with nothing but chairs. I think the boys from the 2 night games on Thursday and Friday had to this also. Apparently not but two locker rooms at the stadium.   Might not be unusual or normal at USM. As long as security was standing pat I don't see the fuss.

[pancho]

Did east webster dress in a tent as well?    sounds like when the field is wet and one team can't get traction and the other team runs past them.  Heidelberg thought they had a cake walk in this game but it was too late once they realized it.

[Rebel Bert]

9 hours ago, pancho said:

Did east webster dress in a tent as well?    sounds like when the field is wet and one team can't get traction and the other team runs past them.  Heidelberg thought they had a cake walk in this game but it was too late once they realized it.

My understanding is 7A, 5A, and 2A dressed in a tent. Obviously someone on the Heidelberg team took a picture of unorganized chairs against the wall with clothes everywhere. I am guessing that neither locker room at State is equipped where it can be divided into two parts for small teams in numbers are playing Neither do I know how things have been done at other stadiums. It looked like Heidelberg was totally disorganized  under the tent. MSU having hosted before would have known how to set this up. Maybe this was designed by MHSAA. 

[Bulldogs4]

I thought there were four locker rooms at State. 
As that was one of the prerequisites for hosting. 

[slicklizard]

They made them dress in a tent ?  That is just disrespectful and inept planning.

If MSU can't host any better than that pull their spot in the rotation .

Edited December 12, 2025 by slicklizard

[Rebel Bert]

7 hours ago, slicklizard said:

They made them dress in a tent ?  That is just disrespectful and inept planning.

If MSU can't host any better than that pull their spot in the rotation .

Moms at Heidelberg were mad is all I can say with pictures. I can see that players were not focused on the game maybe.

[pancho]

Ha.  they realized too late that they had a fundamental prepared opponent is the main reason for the mouthing.  

[Rebel Bert]

2 hours ago, pancho said:

Ha.  they realized too late that they had a fundamental prepared opponent is the main reason for the mouthing.  

That too! Well prepared and well coached. They did beat Kemper County.

[Vott]

10 hours ago, slicklizard said:

They made them dress in a tent ?  That is just disrespectful and inept planning.

If MSU can't host any better than that pull their spot in the rotation .

Hattiesburg dressed in the MSU dressing room. It was huge. Definitely big enough to put a tarp or some type of curtain up to let both teams use them.