ORANGE BEACH — Orange Beach wasted no time Friday night, piling up three first-quarter touchdowns from running back Aiden Kee and riding a relentless ground game to a 47-21 win over Satsuma.

“I just know we were blocking them tonight,” head coach Wade Waldrop said when talking about the run game. “And we have not been blocking people consistently over the last two weeks especially. For them to come out and have a big night tonight, we needed it. Our team needed it and we are glad to get on the board for a region win.”

Kee was the engine of the Makos offense all night, scoring four touchdowns once the game was all said and done. He powered through the middle of the field and found a crease to the endzone on the opening drive after a few big gains from wide receiver Chris Taylor.

Freshman quarterback Tucker Wade kept Satsuma's defense off balance with both his arm and legs. Wade scrambled for a long gain to set up one of Kee’s first-half scores and later found Taylor streaking down the sideline for a touchdown on a perfectly placed throw. He also connected with tight end Lee Steele multiple times in the first two quarters to spark scoring drives.

Waldrop had some constructive criticism on the young signal-caller’s performance after the win.

“He (Wade) did a really good job,” Waldrop said. “I think if he sets his feet on a few more throws, he’s got two more touchdowns tonight. We are going to stay hard on him and demand him to do things the way we want to do it. Offensively, we were good early on, and he had one big drop on the sideline where I thought he threw a dart.”

Orange Beach’s defense and special teams matched the offense’s energy. Campbell Tillman stuffed Satsuma’s running back in the back field on third down of its opening drive, setting up another drive that was capped off by a Kee touchdown run. Linebacker Turner Tillman also delivered big hits all night, including a drive-killing tackle for loss in the first quarter that was followed by a blocked punt to set up Kee’s third score.

After Orange Beach built a 20-0 lead just six minutes into the game, Satsuma briefly answered with a long touchdown run from running back Micah Sullivan. But the Makos responded immediately, marching down the field behind big gains from Kee before Tillman finished it at the goal line with a rushing touchdown. Another turnover by the Gators set up Wade’s strike to Taylor as Orange Beach stretched its lead to 34-7 by halftime.

Even when Satsuma strung together second-half drives, the Makos kept answering. Kee leaped over the line of scrimmage for his fourth touchdown and pushed the lead to 41-14 on the first play of the final quarter. After the Gators scored quickly again, wide receiver Adrian Billups gave Orange Beach prime field position with a long kickoff return into enemy territory.

A penalty wiped out a touchdown by Blake Brunick on that series, but John Watters Gentry made it irrelevant when he raced 30 yards to paydirt on the very next play to take away any chance of a comeback the Gators might have had.

With the win, Orange Beach snaps a two-game losing streak and moves to 3-2 on the season. The Makos now have their first 4A Region 1 victory and will travel to Robertsdale next week to take on the Bears.

“It’s been 14 days since we have won a football game, so it feels good to win one,” Waldrop said. “But to get a region one, it’s really good.”