FAIRHOPE – A steady ground game in the first half and a defiant defense in the second helped Fairhope avoid one of the worst stings in high-school football: A blown lead to a Yellow Jacket attack.

The Pirates established and held the lead to defeat the No. 7-ranked McGill-Toolen Catholic Yellow Jackets 24-18 Friday night in the 6A Region 2 opener for both teams on Majors Field at Fairhope Municipal Stadium on Friday night.

Fairhope (1-1, 1-0) got on the board first and never trailed. A 17-3 halftime lead became a 24-3 FHS advantage three minutes into the third quarter. But McGill-Toolen scored twice to make it 24-18 with four minutes to go and were one play away from tying it up. On their final drive, the Jackets went for the end zone with 20 seconds left on a bomb that Fairhope's Nathan Andrews intercepted to preserve the Pirate win.

"Our defense did a heck of a job stepping up and winning the game for us," said Fairhope head coach David Faulkner. "We talked about that (Losing to Spanish Fort) all week and handling adversity all the time, and that sometimes things just don't go your way. But I thought the kids did an amazing job in coming out and playing real hard and I'm proud of them for taking what could have been a liability and turning it into something positive."