FAIRHOPE — The Fairhope Pirates, who have already locked down the 6A Region 2 championship, completed a perfect (6-0) region schedule Friday at Satsuma with a 38-0 shutout over the Gators. The Pirates reached the 9-0 mark for the first time since 1983 and now hope to close the regular season undefeated with a home win over Mary G. Montgomery this Friday night at W.C. Majors Field.

"We're excited about that," said Fairhope head coach David Faulkner. "Anytime you can get a shutout in 6A football is something that speaks volumes about how you play defensively. Our goal is always to shutout the opposing team. We tell our kids, 'Don't let them score and we won't lose.' We've been fortunate to do it twice this year and hold the other team to just one score a few times as well."

Faulkner said the other side of the line has also come through, especially the front.

"No, doubt, our offensive line is a real big part of our success," he said. "When you run the kind of offense we do. Throwing a lot then running it, we have to ask a lot of our offensive line so they're very important in the style of offense we run. They have done a great job all year and we wouldn't be where we are without them."

At Satsuma, Faulkner said the offense, defense and special teams came through as well as the kicking game. Ian Dingwall kicked a 30-yard field goal, Chase Garnham recovered a free ball in the SHS end zone for a touchdown and Cliffton Johnson and Harvey Mitchell both added rushing touchdowns for the Pirates. "The defense did a great job for us. Everybody played well and executed. Now we just want to keep it up and finish strong."

The Pirates have a chance to go 10-0 for the first time since 1969 with a win over the 0-9 Vikings.

"Well, we're not taking Mary Montgomery for granted," Faulkner said. "I think the kids are definitely excited about the opportunity to go undefeated. It's something that doesn't happen very often. It's exciting for the whole community and it's something the kids will always remember. To make it all the way through 10 games is hard to do but we are hoping to make it happen this Friday night."

Faulkner added he was happy to have the region title sewn up, but won't look beyond Friday to the playoffs just yet.

"There's a couple of advantages to winning the region title. You get the home-field advantage in the first round, of course. But it also means a lot to the school, the program to know that all that hard work, all the practices paid off for you. We still have to get past Mary Montgomery, though, so we're not going to look ahead right now."

Fairhope running back Jamal Woodyard, injured in game seven against Daphne, is not expected to return for another four-to-six weeks.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Majors Field. Fairhope (9-0, 6-0) is ranked No. 4 in 6A. Region 1 MGM is winless overall this season.

The Pirates will host Murphy High in round one of the 6A state playoffs. The Panthers (7-2, 4-3) finished third in Region 2 behind Davidson (7-2, 6-1) but defeated the Warriors last Thursday in overtime. Theodore finished second in Region 1 and will host Daphne in round one.