Moss Point has found a new head football coach.
John Feaster, who led Stone High to the Class 4A South State championship game last season, is moving from one Region 8-4A team to another as he was announced as the new Tigers’ head coach this week.
Feaster spent the past seven seasons at Stone, and had a record of 39-34 during that span from 2016-2022.
His Tomcats beat Moss Point 45-18 in league play, ending a nine-game Tomcat losing streak to the Tigers.
Moss Point will remain in Region 8-4A next season, while Stone moves up to Class 5A as the Mississippi High School Association implements a new seven-classification system in all sports.
Perennial Class 4A state power Poplarville will move into Stone’s former spot in the newly realigned Region 8-4A.
Before arriving in Wiggins for his first head coaching job, Feaster served as defensive coordinator at both Pearl River Central as well as Picayune, his alma mater.
Feaster replaces former Tiger head coach Eugene Harmon, who stepped down late last year. Feaster becomes the sixth head football coach at Moss Point in the last 15 years.
Harmon led the Tigers to the second round of the Class 4A South State playoffs this season. He just completed his sixth season at the helm of the Moss Point football program.
Overall, Harmon posted a 27-39 mark during his tenure, but that included an impressive 18-8 record in Region 8-4A. The Tigers won the region title three times under his direction, including this season, and advanced to the second round of the Class 4A South State playoffs three of the past four seasons including this year as well. Moss Point qualified for the postseason in all six of his seasons as head coach.
Owens out in Carriere
While Stone begins its search for a new head football coach, Pearl River Central will be doing the same.
Blue Devils head coach Jacob Owen announced on Wednesday that he is stepping down after five seasons at the helm of the struggling program.
Owen went 13-38 during his five campaigns in Carriere. The Blue Devils went 1-9 last season. Pearl River Central was 2-7 in 2021.
Here is Owen’s statement on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Coach_jowen/status/1622839098514735104?s=20&t=_z8pOtZ383ZSQr6aj-CXNw
Owen’s best year came in his first season at the helm of PRC when the Blue Devils went 4-7 and finished sixth in the eight-team Region 4-5A.
Pearl River Central hasn’t qualified for the state football playoffs in eight years, since the 2015 season when they completed a run of playing in the postseason in four out of five seasons beginning in 2011 with a pair of Class 5A South State championship appearances in that span under head coach Eric Collins. Owen replaced Larry Dolan, who went 5-17 in two seasons with no playoff appearances after replacing Collins when he left for the head coaching job at D’Iberville.
Owen tweeted that his time leading PRC “was an honor and a privilege and he wishes the kids, school, and community nothing but the best as they move in the next direction.”
Stone, PRC and Ocean Springs are now the three vacant head football coaching openings in the “Southern Six”.
