News 25 Game of the Week preview: Harrison Central at Gulfport

The kind of games high school football coaches might circle on the calendar: archrival and first place. If that’s the case, John Archie and Casey Cain would need to draw two circles for tomorrow’s region 4 class 6A showdown.

Also our News 25 Game of the Week for obvious reasons, as Gulfport rolls out the welcome mat for visiting Harrison Central. Always a heated a match-up, this year’s crosstown affair has some extra juice with both teams coming in with equal records of 6-1 and 3-0 in district play.

Bragging rights, playoff implications, and bragging rights all on the line for what could be the most heavily anticipated matchup in the history of this tug-of-war for Harrison County. Harrison Central Head Football Coach Casey Cain said, “To me, there’s such great parity down here on the Coast. It seems like every week it’s like we’re supposed to be playing the next rival, so I mean like I say, they’re in the same county we’re in and our kids know each other, it’s just going to be a fun game. We’ve got to do everything we can to be 4-0.”

Gulfport Head Football Coach John Archie said, “It means a lot to them. I think the kids now, they look at more of a Gulfport-Harrison Central rivalry just because both of them are supposedly in the city of Gulfport, they want to be who is the best in the city of Gulfport. You try not to look past the big rivalry and all of that, but we’ve got to look at it that this is really for the driver’s seat in the division. Winner of this game controls their own destiny throughout the division.”

The Gulfport-Harrison Central rivalry dates back to 1968 with the Admirals holding a 34-6 edge over the Red Rebels.  Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. for tomorrow from Gulfport’s Milner Stadium.