The Gulf Shores Dolphins are set for their first road trip of the postseason where the Headland Rams will host a Class 5A State Quarterfinal contest Friday night at J.J. Yarborough Stadium.

It will serve as Gulf Shores’ second straight trip to the third round and Headland’s first appearance in a state quarterfinal in program history which started in 1920 according to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society.

Below are deeper details on the lone third-round contest for Baldwin County teams with information from the AHSFHS. Follow @GCMSportsAL for social media updates on Friday and stay tuned to gulfcoastmedia.com/sports for full coverage later that night.

Class 5A R-1, No. 1 Gulf Shores Dolphins (12-0) at R-2, No. 3 Headland Rams (10-2)

The Charles Henderson Trojans and UMS-Wright Bulldogs serve as common opponents where Gulf Shores recorded shutouts against each, 41-0 over the Trojans last week and 17-0 over the Bulldogs in Week 4.

Headland fell to Charles Henderson 35-14 in Week 9 of the regular season but just beat UMS-Wright 35-21 in the second round to earn its first spot in the state quarterfinals. The Rams are in their 13th overall postseason and their second consecutive.

This season, Headland outscored its opponents 390-232 (32.5-19.3 on average) and went 6-0 at J.J. Yarborough Stadium. However, the Rams are 3-3 overall at home in the playoffs with wins recorded in 1984, 2018 and last week over UMS-Wright. Headland is also 0-5 against ranked teams in the playoffs since 1984.

The Rams will enter on a four-game win streak which started after their loss to Charles Henderson. Still, that stretch helped register a fourth 10-win season which ties the program record set in 1980, 1988 and 2018.

Headland had its bye in Week 5 and has been playing since Sept. 29. Contrarily, Gulf Shores had its open date in Week 9 and only had two games to close the regular season before the playoffs opened.

The Dolphins have been scoring points at a blistering rate this season and have limited their opponents to the fewest points in program history so far. The 2023 squad is on pace to surpass last year’s single-season scoring record of 484 where Gulf Shores enters having scored 475 points in its first 12 games.

On the other side of the ball, the Dolphin defense has allowed only 110 points which is on pace to beat the 2021 record of 176 points against when Brian VanGorder was also the defensive coordinator.

Gulf Shores has already recorded its first undefeated regular season, 12-win campaign and the most shutouts in a single year with four. Now, the Dolphins will be making their first repeat trip to the state quarterfinals in program history.