The intra-county matchup between the Fairhope Pirates and Daphne Trojans highlights action around Baldwin County entering the final three weeks of the regular season.

The Eastern Shore rivalry might not have many playoff implications with both squads above the four- and five-loss teams in Class 7A Region 1 with only two games remaining. Fairhope will enter 4-1 with second-place Baker on next week’s schedule while Daphne will be 3-2 with last-place Robertsdale set for the season finale.

Although the Trojans own a 25-10 lead in the all-time series according to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, the Pirates have had more success recently and own a 6-3 advantage over the last nine seasons. However, Daphne did earn a three-point road victory in last year’s matchup sealed by a late interception from Al Woodard.

So far this year, the Trojans have outscored their opponents 25.1-16.9 on average and Fairhope owns a 24.5-18.1 margin. Daphne will be fresh off a pair of wins over Davidson and Alma-Bryant where the Pirates suffered their first region loss to MGM last week.

Theodore Bobcats at Gulf Shores Dolphins

On the other end of the county will be a key region game in the Class 6A Region 1 playoff race where the fourth and final seed will likely be determined at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium.

The Gulf Shores Dolphins and Theodore Bobcats will enter the teams’ first meeting in program histories with identical 2-3 records in region play.

With Saraland locked into a playoff spot at 6-0, the Dolphins already lost to Spanish Fort and St. Paul’s who are likely to take the middle two seeds. But since Gulf Shores beat McGill-Toolen and only has Baldwin County and Murphy remaining on the schedule, a win would all but secure the No. 4 seed for the Dolphins.

Theodore lost to Spanish Fort, St. Paul’s and McGill-Toolen and registered wins over Baldwin County and Murphy. The Bobcats are scheduled to finish against Saraland and Blount after this week.

Gulf Shores boasts the state’s third-leading tackler and 11th-leading rusher according to MaxPreps stats entering Week 9. Junior linebacker Landon Everett dropped two spots and has now accounted for 128 total tackles between 82 solos and 46 assists on top of 13 tackles for loss over seven games. Senior running back Kolin Wilson checked in just outside the top 10 with 1,172 rushing yards on 147 carries with 9 touchdowns and a long of 65 over seven games.

Other Week 9 matchups

Alma-Bryant Hurricanes at Robertsdale Golden Bears

Team records entering play: Robertsdale will be 2-6 overall and 0-5 in 7A Region 1, Alma-Bryant will be 1-6 overall and 1-4 in region. Last year: Hurricanes won 34-6. All-time series: Alma-Bryant leads 7-1.

Baldwin County Tigers at Blount Leopards

Team records entering play: Baldwin County will be 1-6 overall and 1-4 in 6A Region 1, Blount will be 1-5 overall and 1-4 in region. Last year: Tigers won 20-13. All-time series: Leopards lead 10-4.

Bayside Academy Admirals at Excel Panthers

Team records entering play: Bayside Academy will be 6-1 overall and 4-0 in 3A Region 1, Excel will be 4-3 overall and 2-2 in region. Last meeting: Admirals won 31-8 in 2021. All-time series: Bayside Academy leads 17-1.

Chickasaw Chieftains at Bayshore Christian Eagles

Team records entering play: Bayshore Christian will be 2-4 overall and 1-3 in 2A Region 1, Chickasaw will be 2-5 overall and 1-3 in region. All-time series: Teams’ first meeting.

Elberta Warriors at UMS-Wright Bulldogs

Team records entering play: Elberta will be 0-7 overall and 0-5 in 5A Region 1, UMS-Wright will be 2-5 overall and 2-3 in region. Last year: Bulldogs won 55-13. All-time series: UMS-Wright leads 4-0.

Foley Lions at Davidson Warriors

Team records entering play: Foley will be 3-4 overall and 1-4 in 7A Region 1, Davidson will be 2-5 overall and 1-4 in region. Last year: Warriors won 52-41. All-time series: Davidson leads 11-6.

Jackson Academy Eagles at Snook Christian Eagles

Team records entering play: Snook Christian will be 0-7 overall and 0-4 in AISA’s Class 2A Region 2, Jackson Academy will be 3-5 overall and 1-3 in region. Last year: Jackson won 48-26. All-time series: Jackson leads 5-0.

Orange Beach Makos at Mobile Christian Leopards

Team records entering play: Orange Beach will be 5-3 overall and 3-1 in 4A Region 1, Mobile Christian will be 2-5 overall and 2-2 in region. Last year: Leopards won 39-7 in teams’ first meeting.

St. Michael Cardinals at Pensacola Tigers

Team records entering play: St. Michael will be 6-1 overall and 4-1 in 4A Region 1, Pensacola will be 3-4 overall and 0-1 in FHSAA’s 3A District 1. All-time series: Teams’ first meeting.