Entering the sixth week of the high school football season, only Class 7A No. 2 Fairhope and Class 5A No. 7 Gulf Shores represented Baldwin County in the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s rankings.

Both remained in the same slots as last week’s rankings and for the Pirates (5-0), it’s not their first time with consecutive weeks at No. 2.

Fairhope held the second-ranked spot for the last seven polls of the 2014 regular season that the Pirates finished 10-0 before earning a playoff win over Jefferson Davis. According to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, the next last time Fairhope was ranked No. 2 was in 1959’s final poll from the Montgomery Advertiser and Birmingham Post-Herald which also had the Pirates at 10-0.

The 2022 Fairhope squad remains undefeated and will do so one more week with an open Friday this week before clashing with the Foley Lions at home Sept. 30.

Gulf Shores (4-1), ranked for the first time in school history, opened at No. 8 in the preseason poll, improved to No. 7 after Week 1 and stayed at No. 4 after wins in Weeks 2 and 3. After the Dolphins’ Week 4 loss to top-ranked UMS-Wright, they returned to the spot they earned out of the gates.

Gulf Shores hosts Class 6A Murphy (0-4) this Friday for a non-region battle.

Back in 7A, Daphne joined Foley in receiving votes but still remained outside of the top 10 this week. The Trojans (3-2) head to Spanish Fort (2-3) while the Lions (2-2) host Saraland (5-0) Friday where both will be non-region contests.

Following Orange Beach’s first loss in Class 4A, the previously eighth-ranked Makos fell out of the poll. Similarly, Bayside Academy lost its first game of the season and fell off the outskirts and did not receive votes for this week’s poll.

Orange Beach returns home to host McIntosh (1-2) Friday while the Admirals will be open ahead of a road trip to face No. 10 T.R. Miller (4-1) Sept. 30.