CLINTON — The road to a state championship will once again go through Hattiesburg for Mississippi’s high school football teams.

The Mississippi High School Activities Association announced Tuesday that its 2024 football championship games will be played at Southern Miss’ M.M. Roberts Stadium Dec. 5-7.

It’s the fourth time in six seasons that Southern Miss has hosted the championship games, which are officially called The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Gridiron Classic.

The Class 3A and 7A games will be played at “The Rock” on Thursday, Dec. 5; the Class 1A and 5A games on Friday, Dec. 6; and the Class 2A, 4A and 6A games on Saturday, Dec. 7.

Games will be played at 4 and 7:30 p.m. the first two days, and at noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the final day.

The MHSAA held its championship games at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson from 1992-2013, then started rotating them to other college stadiums in Mississippi beginning in 2014.

Ole Miss and Mississippi State have also been used as the game site, but Southern Miss’ 36,000-seat stadium has become a familiar destination in recent years.

Southern Miss hosted the championship games 2018, 2021 and 2022. Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was used in 2023.

Jackson State was due to host in 2021, but the game was abruptly moved to Southern Miss when JSU qualified to host the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game the same weekend.

“We appreciate the time and conversations with all the potential host sites through this process,” MHSAA Executive Director Rickey Neaves said in a statement. “We have no doubt that Southern Miss and the city of Hattiesburg will once again do a tremendous job hosting and creating exciting, memorable experiences for our schools, students, coaches, families, and communities.”