With a 42-21 win over the Orange Beach Makos Friday night in Week 10, the sixth-ranked St. Michael Cardinals officially locked in the No. 2 seed from Class 4A Region 1 and earned the right to host a …
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With a 42-21 win over the Orange Beach Makos Friday night in Week 10, the sixth-ranked St. Michael Cardinals officially locked in the No. 2 seed from Class 4A Region 1 and earned the right to host a first-round playoff game for the first time in program history.
St. Michael is postseason-bound for the second year in a row but the Cardinals are already scheduled for a playoff rematch against the Handley Tigers, who ended St. Michael’s season in the first round last season. Handley earned a 44-40 win over B.T. Washington Friday night to secure third place in Region 3 before a bye week to close its regular season. The Cardinals are set for a Week 11 road trip to face UMS-Wright in their season finale.
Sophomore quarterback Gunner Rivers and junior running back Noah Moss paced the St. Michael offense with three touchdowns each as another program record was set with the eighth win of the season. The Cardinals’ previous season high was six wins in 2023 and 2021.
Rivers threw scoring passes to junior classmates Tucker Tomlinson (56 yards) and Brody Jones (19 and 2 yards) as Moss ripped off runs to pay dirt of 17, 2 and 71 yards for St. Michael’s fifth 40-point effort this season.
For Orange Beach, junior Blake Brunick (3 yards) and senior Chase Hoyle (4 yards) ran to pay dirt as junior quarterback JW McAlpine connected with sophomore Miller Day for an 11-yard passing touchdown.
With the Makos’ loss to Mobile Christian in Week 10, they fell out of playoff contention and won’t have enough non-region wins to claim a three-way tiebreaker with the Leopards and W.S. Neal for one of the final two postseason spots. Orange Beach finished the first regular season of the Wade Waldrop Era 5-5 overall and 3-3 in region following a 1-8 and 1-6 campaign last year.
Gulf Shores Dolphins 30, Baldwin County Tigers 7
A 99-yard interception returned for a touchdown by junior Auburn commit JaMichael Garrett sparked Gulf Shores’ defensive effort on the road to snap a three-game losing streak for the Dolphins. Garrett finished with 6 total tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack and 3 quarterback hurries according to MaxPreps stats.
Seniors Blaize Thomas and Jaden Dobbins also pulled down interceptions as sophomore Adam Duncan logged 3.5 sacks to go along with 6 total tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. Junior Landon Everett led the way with 14 total tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack for 8 yards lost.
Senior Mississippi State commit Kolin Wilson racked up 232 rushing yards as part of a three-touchdown night with a long score of 57 yards. Sophomore quarterback Jud Harris completed 9 passes for 63 yards where Wilson was also the leading pass-catcher with 29 receiving yards on 4 receptions.
The Class 6A Region 1 playoff picture has not yet been finalized but the Baldwin County Tigers would have to upset the McGill-Toolen Yellow Jackets in Week 11 for Gulf Shores to still have a chance to sneak in. However, the Dolphins’ postseason resume lacks any non-region wins.
Gulf Shores is set to close its regular season with a road trip to face the Murphy Panthers who will enter 0-9 overall and 0-7 in region.
Baldwin County’s lone score Friday night came on a passing connection between junior classmates from Hayden Coley to LeJames Daniels in the first half. The Tigers are set for their regular-season finale against McGill-Toolen in Week 11 and will enter 1-8 overall and 1-6 in region play.
Daphne Trojans 42, Robertsdale Golden Bears 0
The Daphne Trojans locked up the No. 3 seed in Class 7A Region 1 with a bang heading into a bye week before the playoffs begin on the road against the Thompson Warriors.
Daphne closed the regular season on a four-game winning streak where the defense lowered its average allowance to 15.7 points per game. Offensively, the 42 points set a season best for the Trojans whose previous best was 36 points in a win over Foley.
It will mark the second-straight trip to the playoffs for Daphne and the seventh in nine years under head coach Kenny King. The Trojans finished the regular season 7-3 overall and 5-2 in region play.
With a loss to Baker Friday night, Fairhope secured the fourth seed from Region 1 with a 5-5 overall record and 4-3 mark in the group. The Pirates will be set for a road trip to face the Hoover Buccaneers who wrapped up the Region 3 crown undefeated with a 38-20 win over Vestavia Hills. It will be Fairhope’s first trip back to the playoffs since 2022.
Other Week 10 final scores
Alma-Bryant Hurricanes 14, Foley Lions 10
Baker Hornets 34, Fairhope Pirates 14
Citronelle Wildcats 34, Elberta Warriors 0
J.U. Blacksher Bulldogs 34, Bayshore Christian Eagles 0
McGill-Toolen Yellow Jackets 20, Spanish Fort Toros 14
Sparta Academy Warriors 44, Snook Christian Eagles 0