FAIRHOPE — Junior quarterback Trey Garner turned in a breakout performance Friday night, accounting for all five touchdowns to lift the Fairhope Pirates to a 38-21 win over rival Daphne in a huge 7A Region 1 matchup at W.C. Majors Field.

“He just gets better every week, man,” Fairhope head coach Tim Carter said of Garner. “He eludes pressure, he doesn’t hurt us with the football, he doesn’t try to force it — He has just been lights out, as a leader mainly, but also just executing within the offense.”

Garner scored three touchdowns through the air and two on the ground against the Trojans, while receiver Fisher Southall hauled in two touchdowns to help Fairhope secure its first win over Daphne since 2022.

However, the Trojans struck first in this one. On the opening drive, quarterback Christian Segar looked to wide receiver LaBralyn Williams several times in their march down the field before connecting with Jaecyn “Scoot” Myles on a 20-yard touchdown pass to cap it off. But the Pirates wasted no time answering.

Running back Nic Ronsisvalle pounded the ball between the tackles to move into Trojan territory, and it only took two minutes for Fairhope to respond. Garner hit Southall streaking down the sideline to tie it at 7-7 midway through the first quarter.

After a series of defensive stops on both sides drained the remainder of the first, Fairhope took control early in the second quarter. Garner guided a five-and-a-half-minute drive highlighted by Ronsisvalle’s patient runs and a costly fourth-down penalty against the Daphne defense. The junior quarterback finished it himself, finding the edge and diving toward the pylon for a 10-yard score to give the Pirates a 14-7 lead.

Daphne responded late in the half with Segar finding AJ Blakney in the end zone to even the score at 14-14 with two minutes left. But they left too much time for Garner to answer. Behind an efficient two-minute drill, the junior found Bryon Martin on back-to-back big gains to set up a 5-yard touchdown strike to Southall with 12 seconds remaining in the half, sending the Pirates into the locker room up 21-14.

Fairhope’s offense kept rolling to open the third quarter. Garner found Martin for a crucial third-down conversion before Andres Hunt moved the chains again on fourth down in the wildcat formation. A few plays later, Garner hit Hunt on a screen pass, and the senior athlete weaved through traffic for a 15-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 28-14.

Leading or trailing, the Pirates have been a great second half team all season long. Carter commented on his team being able to execute the gameplan every week.

“I don’t know if we do a whole lot different; I just think we don’t panic,” Carter said. “We just talk about a few things that maybe they are doing, what to look for and maybe that helps us. But the gameplan doesn’t change. We don’t work those plays so hard not to run them. We just try to get the right one — we just seem to have an answer and the drive to open the second half gave us a good advantage.”

Down two scores, Segar kept Daphne in it with a highlight connection to Myles over the middle and another red zone strike to Blakney in the back of the end zone, cutting the deficit to 28-21 late in the third. But again, Fairhope’s rhythm on offense proved too much to slow down.

Early in the fourth, Garner capped a steady drive, anchored by runs with his legs and Ronsisvalle’s, with a five-yard keeper for his fifth touchdown of the night. Kicker Grant Thompson later added a 33-yard field goal after another stop by the Pirates with four minutes left to ice the victory.

The Pirates (7-2, 5-1 in 7A Region 1) will close out the season next week being able to control their own destiny in one final region matchup against Baker. With Baker taking down Mary G. Montgomery this week, Fairhope will be playing for a playoff host spot against the Hornets on Oct. 24.

“We control our destiny,” Carter said after the win. “We got to turn around and beat Baker — which is a very good football team — on the road after this brutal run here at the end of our season. I am just so proud of how our kids responded and how they fought. It was very back-and-forth in the first half. The second half we kind of seized the momentum with a long drive. Our offensive and defensive coaches did a wonderful job. I am really proud of this victory.”

Daphne (7-2, 4-2 in 7A Region 1) will look to bounce back on the road at Robertsdale next week, also closing the door on the 2025 regular season.