By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

Last season, Picayune opened the Class 4A football playofs by facing an opponent the Maroon Tide had never met before on the gridiron.

This time, as the Maroon Tide prepares for the same scenario, head coach Dodd Lee hopes the results are the same as well.

Picayune hosts Forest Hill of Jackson Friday night at 7 p.m., to open the South State playoffs.

Picayune is 8-2 while Forrest Hill, known as the Rebels for the time being, is 7-3 and finished third in Region 6-4A. It’s the first meeting ever between the teams in football.

Last season, Picayune opened the playoffs by beating Gautier in the first ever meeting between those teams.

Also, Forest Hill has a new nickname to replace Rebels. Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards Sr. says the school will now be known as the Forest Hill Patriots. Edwards made that announcement at a school board meeting Monday night.

The school has always been known as the Rebels, but some students and community leaders have voiced concerns about that nickname, which has a connotation of one being disobedient or opposed to the government or fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Edwards says students and members of the community near the school were involved in choosing the school’s new nickname.

Of those voting, 394 chose the Patriots from six submitted names. Jaguars came in second.