It’s do-or-die time and only five Baldwin County teams are still in the running for a state championship within their respective classifications as the AHSAA playoffs open this weekend.

With rain in the late week forecast from Tropical Storm Rafael, some matchups are moving from Friday to Thursday and leaving schedules subject to change. As of Tuesday evening, home games for St. Michael and Bayside Academy, as well as an away game for Fairhope, have been moved to Thursday where Spanish Fort’s home game and Daphne’s away game remain scheduled for Friday.

Below are details on the five first-round playoff games involving Baldwin County teams with information from the Alabama High School Football Historical Society. Follow @GCMSportsAL on social media for immediate updates and visit gulfcoastmedia.com/sports for full coverage.

Fairhope Pirate at Hoover Buccaneers

Team records entering play: Fairhope will be 5-5 overall and 4-3 in 7A Region 1, Hoover will be 8-2 overall and 7-0 in 7A Region 3. All-time series: Teams’ first meeting.

Returning to the postseason for the first time since 2022, the Fairhope Pirates will hit the road to visit the 12-time champion Hoover Buccaneers who qualified for their 25th-consecutive state playoffs.

Fairhope owns a 13-24 record in the first round of the postseason including a 3-20 mark in away games. Hoover has not lost at home in the first round since 1992 and holds a 28-3 all-time record at home in the first round.

The Pirates will enter fresh off a bye week and will take its 3-2 record in away games this year on the road once again. They outscored opponents 23.2-21.4 on average where the Buccaneers held an average of 29.6-14.8 and went 3-2 in home games this season.

Hale County Wildcats at Bayside Academy Admirals

Team records entering play: Bayside Academy will be 7-3 overall and 5-1 in 3A Region 1, Hale County will be 7-3 overall and 5-2 in 3A Region 3. All-time series: Teams’ first meeting.

Bayside Academy qualified for its sixth-consecutive postseason berth but will be searching for its second win in the span Thursday night against Hale County. It will mark the Admirals’ first home game in the first round of the playoffs since 2015 when they beat Fultondale 42-10. With a 54-21 win over Montevallo in 2011, Bayside Academy has a 2-0 record at home in the first round.

The Wildcats are in the playoffs for the first time since 2021 and own a 5-14 all-time record in the first round including a 3-11 mark on the road. Hale County went 4-2 in away games this season where they outscored all opponents 29.7-26.7 on average.

The Admiral defense has allowed an average of 13.4 points per game which entered Week 12 as No. 8 in Class 3A but the Wildcats only failed to score at least 20 points in two games this year.

Handley Tigers at St. Michael Cardinals

Team records entering play: St. Michael will be 9-1 overall and 5-1 in 4A Region 1, Handley will be 7-3 overall and 5-2 in 4A Region 3. Last year: Handley won 68-38. All-time series: Tigers lead 1-0.

A first-round rematch will also switch places where St. Michael will now host Handley in the first round of the Class 4A bracket after the Tigers used a 68-38 win at home in Roanoke to open last year’s playoffs.

The 2023 bracket also had Handley as a region champion and the Cardinals as the No. 4 seed but this year’s meeting, set for Thursday night in Fairhope, will feature St. Michael as a runner-up and the Tigers as the No. 3 seed.

This year marked seven playoffs in a row for Handley who has also won three state championships with the most recent one in 2020. The Cardinals made the postseason for the first time in program history last year and followed it up with their second-straight appearance.

With an average of 36.7 points per game, the St. Michael offense entered Week 12 as the eighth-ranked unit in Class 4A having scored less than 21 points only twice.

Benjamin Russell Wildcats at Spanish Fort Toros

Team records entering play: Spanish Fort will be 8-2 overall and 4-1 in 6A Region 1, Benjamin Russell will be 5-5 overall and 4-2 in 6A Region 3. Last meeting: Spanish Fort won 38-0 in first round of 2018 playoffs. All-time series: Toros lead 4-0.

Ever since Spanish Fort made its first postseason appearance in 2008, the Toros have been featured in every playoff bracket since and have won all 11 first-round games at home on The Hill.

In that span, Spanish Fort has met with Benjamin Russell four times in the playoffs and secured victories in all four which have come in each round except for the state championship. The Toros are 15-1 overall in the first round and the Wildcats are 16-4 including a 3-8 mark on the road in the first round.

Spanish Fort defended The Hill with a 4-1 record at home this year where the Toros outscored all opponents 29.7-14.8 on average to rank No. 19 offensively and No. 10 defensively within Class 6A. Benjamin Russell went 1-3 on the road this year with an average score of 28.4-22.8.

Daphne Trojans at Thompson Warriors

Team records entering play: Daphne will be 7-3 overall and 5-2 in 7A Region 1, Thompson will be 7-3 overall and 6-1 in 7A Region 3. Last meeting: Trojans won 42-7 in first round of 2001 playoffs. All-time series: Daphne leads 1-0.

They say the playoffs are all about playing well at the right time and the Daphne Trojans will be riding a four-game winning streak into the playoffs where they’ve outscored opponents 34.5-12.8 on average.

Daphne is set for its second postseason appearance in a row where the Trojans own a 16-10 record in the first round including a 4-5 mark in away games to open the playoffs. This season, Daphne went 3-2 on the road and outscored all opponents 27.8-15.7 on average to rank No. 15 offensively and No. 7 defensively within Class 7A.

On the other sideline, Thompson qualified for its eighth-straight postseason where the Warriors are 11-1 at home in the first round. Thompson used an average of 30.9 points per game and 14.5 points against per game to rank in Class 7A’s top 10 on both sides at No. 9 offensively and No. 5 defensively. The Warriors went 3-3 in their home games this year and are 12-10 overall in the first round of the state playoffs.