M.M. Roberts Stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg is the setting for Saturday afternoon’s Class 2A state championship football game pitting the Tigers of Charleston High School against the Oilers of Heidelberg High School. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
General admission tickets may be purchased in advance here.
Those not attending the game will find it livestreamed here by the National Federation of State High Schools. This is a subscription service, but a "Monthly Pass" may be purchased for $11.99, and the subscription may be canceled at any time.
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CHS (12-2) is in search of the program’s third state title in the sport. After beating Heidelberg 26-22 for the 2023 state title, the Tigers hope to repeat as state champs for the first time in program history.
Charleston advanced to the state game, officially part of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Gridiron Classic, by defeating Northside 22-14 to win the 2A North State crown Friday night.
Heidelberg (13-1) topped Raleigh 26-12 for the South State title.
Both teams are on a hot streak as of late, Charleston having won nine in a row and Heidelberg, 11 in a row.
For a side-by-side look at their respective football season results, click here.
Another game that is of interest to many Tallahatchians is Saturday night's Class 6A title match between the 14-1 Grenada High School Chargers and the 13-0 Hattiesburg High School Tigers. A couple of former Charleston head coaches will be on opposing sidelines for the 7 p.m. kickoff.
Hattiesburg's head coach, Tony Vance, a native of Tippo, was CHS head coach when the Tigers won their first football state championship in 2011. He guided them back to the big game in 2012, where they lost by one point. Vance's Hattiesburg Tigers are quarterbacked by his all-star son, Deuce.
Former CHS head coach Scott Martin is an assistant coach on Grenada's staff. He led Charleston to state title matches in 2014, 2015 and 2016, losing those games by 8, 2 and 4 points, respectively.
The general admission ticket is good for the entire day as long as the ticket holder does not leave the stadium. Exit and re-entry is not allowed. Anyone attending the Charleston game could stick around for the 3:30 kickoff of the Class 4A title match between Louisville and Poplarville, and then hang around for the nightcap.
A full schedule of the championship games of all seven public school classifications, as well as information on how to help CHS win $1,000 in the Text to Win contest, is available here, or click on the attached "Game schedule and information" file.
