FOLEY — What began as a back-and-forth rivalry clash turned into Fairhope dominance Friday night as the Pirates rode big performances from Trey Garner and Fisher Southall to beat Foley 38-13 in the Gulf Coast Media Week 7 Game of the Week.

After the win, Pirates head coach Tim Carter talked about the chippiness displayed by both teams throughout the game.

“It’s a rivalry, that’s what they’re like,” Carter said. “No matter how much coach (Deric) Scott and I sometimes say, the kids are emotional about it, but it wasn’t bad. I thought they (Foley) played really well. They had a good plan and gave us a real challenge, we just took advantage of some mistakes in the second half.”

Fairhope opened the scoring on its first possession, leaning on running back Nic Ronsisvalle’s downhill running to move deep into Foley territory. The drive stalled near the goal line, and kicker Grant Thompson knocked a short field goal through the uprights to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead.

Foley wasted no time responding. On the Lions’ first offensive play from scrimmage, Jaxson Dixon took a handoff 75 yards to the house. The extra point missed, but Foley jumped ahead 6-3 just five minutes into the first quarter.

Ronsisvalle continued to find space behind the Fairhope offensive line, churning out yards to set up another red zone opportunity on the ensuing drive. Foley’s defense stood tall again, but the Pirates converted on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line when Ronsisvalle powered through a scrum for the touchdown, putting Fairhope back in front.

After the teams traded punts late in the first quarter, Lions’ quarterback Makai Holmes found Dixon on a deep ball down the sideline as Foley tried to regain momentum heading into the second period.

However, Fairhope’s defense opened the second quarter with a key takeaway when defensive back Oakley Newsome intercepted a Foley pass near midfield. The turnover immediately turned into points, as Garner found Southall a few plays later behind the defense for a 50-yard touchdown to make it 17-6 in favor of the Pirates.

Foley’s next possession stalled around midfield, and the Lions were forced to punt. Just when it looked like Fairhope may run away with it, the Lions defense answered with a turnover of their own when defensive back Thaelon Henton intercepted a tipped ball, setting up Foley inside the red zone.

The Pirate defense played with grit all night, bringing Foley to a decision on fourth down from the 15-yard line after the turnover. Offside penalties moved the Lions closer to the first down marker, but that didn’t matter — Dixon took a jet sweep to the right before cutting back across the field and making defenders miss for a highlight-reel touchdown. The play cut the Pirates' lead to 17-13 late in the half.

Coach Carter praised the Foley playmakers after the game and talked about the bright future they have ahead of them.

“No.4 (Dixon) is the real deal,” Carter said. “He is a very good football player and they got a lot of other guys. They are young, a young quarterback and they are going to be competitive down the road.

Fairhope threatened to stretch its lead before halftime when athlete Bryon Martin appeared to score on a long touchdown, but a holding penalty brought the play back. The Pirates still pushed the ball past midfield, but Thompson would miss a 48-yard field goal attempt as time expired in the half.

Foley looked to have all the momentum coming out of the locker room. After receiving the opening kick, Holmes followed with a strike to receiver Brayden Garcia down the field — but Fairhope defensive back Cooper Bell stripped the ball away from behind to flip possession.

Garner went right back to work and found athlete Andres Hunt on a screen pass for a big gain down to the Foley 40. Ronsisvalle kept the chains moving with several tough carries before Garner hit Southall on a slant for a 5-yard touchdown, their second scoring connection of the night, to push the lead to 24-13.

Both defenses tightened up as the third quarter wore on and Foley’s offense struggled to regain rhythm. The Pirates then blocked a punt to begin the final quarter with solid field position, setting up to ice the game.

However, Fairhope’s offense began to stall as well but the Lions couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity and quickly went three-and-out. The Pirates later lulled the Foley defense to sleep with several handoffs before Garner hit Hunt down the right sideline for a 50-yard touchdown that extended the Pirates’ lead to 31-13.

Garner threw three touchdowns in the win, shared the ball around to multiple receivers and really tested the defense by stretching the field. Carter believes there is always room for improvement but credits a deep receiver room for the success.

“We have a pretty good receiving core,” Carter said. “I thought Trey did okay — we didn't click on all cylinders, but we did last week. You’re not going to do that week in and week out. I thought we got a little out physicalled in the first half but came back in the second half and played a lot better football.”

On the following Foley drive, Holmes was intercepted by Dylan Gilbert, who returned it for a Fairhope pick-six, taking away any hope the Lions had left. The Pirates began rotating in backups with under five minutes to go and ran out the clock to secure the 38-13 road win in region play.

With the win, the Pirates have officially locked in a 7A playoff spot with three big-time games ahead of them on the schedule. Fairhope (6-1, 4-0 in 7A Region 1) will ride a six-game win-streak into next week when they host another region opponent in Mary G. Montgomery.

Carter commented on the tough schedule that awaits the Pirates in the coming weeks.

“We got ‘Amen Corner,’ like Auburn had back when they had Florida, Georgia and Alabama,” Carter said. “We have MGM, Daphne and Baker. All four of us are in the top — we are in (the playoffs) and that is great. Now we have two games at home and we’d like to have a chance to win those.”

The Lions fall to 2-4 on the season and will hit the road to Baker next week as coach Deric Scott gets ready to face off against his twin brother Eric Scott.