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Episode 7 - New team at the top and a pivotal rivalry clash · The Gulf Coast Sports Pulse with Gulf Coast Media

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: You are listening to the Gulf Coast Sports Pult.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: All Baldwin County athletics all the time.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome back to the Gulf Coast Sports Pulse.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Park Gillam, as always, the sports editor here with Gulf Coast Media, and I'm joined by local athletics guru John Mullen as we discuss all the recent happenings of Baldwin County High School football and also kind of preview the second straight week of uh games being uh moved up um, you know, with uh the upcoming uh you know tropical depression slash storm slash hurricane rolling in that um we're still TBB on the severity.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um I believe last I heard it was um a category two.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so we'll we'll see how how that pans out.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: But um in terms of football, uh everything has been moved up um to Thursday night this week.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so before we get into all that though, uh we'll kind of recap um, you know, some of the things that happened last weekend in the area.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, definitely a lighter slate with a lot of teams kind of coming off by weeks, and so not as many blockbuster matchups, but teams kind of shaking off the rust from from a brief break.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um and we'll start out with one of the island schools kind of remaining undefeated.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, now the the loan remaining undefeated in Baldwin County, which we'll touch on a bit later.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um the Gulf Shores ventured up Bay Bonette, took down Baldwin County by a score of 34-0, um, solid district result for the Dolphins, but perhaps the biggest storyline to come out of that game was the fact that head coach Mark Hudson secured the his 200th career win as head coach, spanning across high school and college.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, with that starting all the way at uh Wayne Academy in Mississippi back in the 90s, I believe, and then college dance with Louisiana Lafayette, Austin P, um, you know, on his way to leading the Dolphins.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so um Gulf Shores, now the loan remaining unbeaten, um kind of sitting atop the uh the overall Baldwin County standings at this point.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: But just um, you know, John, speak a bit on, I mean, the the game itself was kind of, you know, for the most part as expected, but um just it Coach Odd Smith and securing his 200th win at Gulf Shores and kind of just what what that meant for him, you know, you obviously he mentioned his son, um, you know, I believe when he won his hundredth game, was I think, you know, I was four or six years old, somewhere in that range, and just the memories of that.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so how it's kind of come full circle with his son's quarterback.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: So just your thoughts on on his career and kind of you know securing his 200th last week.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he's uh been successful everywhere and at all levels.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um he's certainly an enthusiastic coach.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he looks like he would be fun to play for.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um and a lot of people have played for him, and um I'm sure he's enjoying having his son play it.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um he celebrated his dad's win by having a great night.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he was like had three touchdown passes and he only threw three incompletions and no interceptions.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: So pretty good game.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: And Baldwin County was outmatched, and we expected that.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um I don't think El Shores is gonna see a tough one uh um until they get to uh Spanish Fort, probably.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they got Spanish Fort will be will be next week, not this upcoming week, but that'll be a massive.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Both those teams currently undefeated in district play.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see if that holds through this week.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it will definitely be a huge game uh for them.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll we'll see if uh we'll see if Hudsmith can secure his, I guess, 201st win this week, and then the 2002nd would be that Spanish sport game.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but uh moving on to kind of the the only other uh intra-county matchup of the weekend.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Daphne welcomed Robert Still to town and really cruise to a 41-9 win.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, a pair of pick sixes kind of led the way for the Trojans.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: That that's talented secondary.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the likes of Calm Lee see Caden Brown really dominating.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and obviously Robert Still still kind of dealing with um ineligible players, um, the the 10 players that um originally had filed a TRO in Montgomery um county court.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: That uh that ruling was of course thrown out.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I believe it was early last week or late the week prior.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so those players weren't allowed to compete.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the proceedings around head coach Justin Jones are still ongoing.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as we mentioned before, they've been moved up to Montgomery County as well.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's a big gray area for Robert still right now.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, a lot of people are talking about, you know, why are they kind of the one school that almost seems uh target may not be the right word, but they're the one school being investigated in the area right now for this kind of stuff with transfers and you know potential recruitment, what what have you.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um so a tough time for Robert still, but Daphne kind of um, you know, keep keeping on keeping on track uh for the Trojans.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now they're uh their fifth straight win since dropping that opener to Spanish Fort, um, and kind of goes along with um, you know, what I've been saying recently about Daphne could be the best team in the county, despite not having the best record.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: So um just, you know, John, maybe your thoughts on that, how Daphne looks, you know, recording another dominant win as they kind of head into a back half of the schedule that's um a little bit tougher than their recent games.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: I went through looked at a few of their scores, and they were um they don't they don't allow a lot of points.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think they've allowed 21 points once, and the other highest was 19, and there was like three shutouts.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: So they're playing playing really, really good defense.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: And um quarterback last week had had a pretty good game, but he um also had two interceptions, but uh like I say it was Robertsdale and they're struggling off the field with things as well.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: So but um Daphne, they they probably are the best best team in the county, I would think.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they have they have a couple games coming up.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: We'll we'll touch on one later.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: They obviously have fair hope further down the line as well, where they'll they'll kind of prove that that that's the case.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: But um, I just think as we said before, in terms of balance, um, you know, defense and offense, and also offensively being able to run and throw the ball, it's just there's not many weaknesses you point out with this team.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, on top of a coaching staff with uh, you know, Coach King and you know his guys that um you know have been there, done that, they know how to win, you know, they they have the experience in this area.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So um definitely will be interesting to watch Daphne going forward.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: They obviously have a big one this week um that we will touch on a little bit later.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: But the last game we kind of wanted to recap, um, we mentioned there's only one unbeaten team left in Baldwin County, and that's because Orange Beach received somewhat of a humbling at the hands of Williamson last week with a 42 to zero defeat um on Thursday.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: It was billed as the biggest game of the makeup season and potentially the program's, you know, yet still young history.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: But John, you you kind of you covered the game from afar, just from your perspective.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just kind of what went into the loss, and you what do you think the program might have learned from it?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um what I think of the Arn the Beach program after this.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Correct, yeah.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think they're still where they want to be.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um they got they learned a big lesson.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think Coach Walter handled it well.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um if his you know, the message he told me I thought was a really good one.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how the kids accepted it.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, you he said it was like a big win.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: You a big loss, you just flush it and you go next.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you got another game to play and you move on and you keep keep working hard and keep um and hopefully he can keep their attention and and I think he will.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: I still think they've got a lot of uh chance to um go further and and uh have more success than they've had you know in their seven short years.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think they've had a program for eight, but seven they've had varsity seven years as a varsity program.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: And Williamson is the real deal.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, those guys, I don't know, they that defense was uh incredible.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: They were they were kind of they're fun to watch, you know, because um big, strong, fast, uh, you know, Orange Beach man in reverse.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, oh wow, they're gonna get a first down on this reverse.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: I like to have everybody faked in about, and then all of a sudden these two black jerseys shriek right in and just took him down for like a two-yard loss.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: So no way they're big, they're fast.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, from what I can tell from your story and also hearing from other people, just it's almost an SEC caliber defense, and it's just the guys they're running out there, a couple uh a couple of D1 recruits.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and yeah, I think you know, Orange Beach, this is one where as a younger program, you've learned a lot from it, and you say, All right, that's that's the standard that we're looking to to get to.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: And now we we've seen what it looks like.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and I know you said, correct me if I'm wrong, it was a pick six in the first player from Orange Beach as well.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I do, I do, I will, I'm willing to say that 42-0.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think Williamson is quite that much better than Orange Beach.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: I do think on a on another given day, potentially on a neutral field, what have you, um, Orange Beach can make that a slightly closer game.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: But yes, Williamson's the standard.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've been seeing a lot of people say that they're playing the best team in mobile, Baldwin County, bar any classification, um, which would be really impressive for a 4A school, but it seems like that could be the case with what they've done so far.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I couldn't argue with that, especially the way they play defense.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: If you can't score on them, you can't beat them.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, well, but they'll be another kind of fun one to watch.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see if uh we'll see if anybody gets a rematch with them uh um in the playoffs.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: But Orange Beach going forward, last home game uh this week.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they'll be playing against Satsuma um and then two more road games to end up the season.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: But again, I mean if you're looking at Orange Beach, you've already got the win under over Viger under your belt.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so district standing-wise, you've got that head to head, as long as you can, you know, really even taking one more loss, and you're still probably setting yourself up in a uh a pretty solid spot.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So um we'll be interesting to watch how Orange Beach goes uh moving forward.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um but before we jump into kind of that the next week, um, we always kind of like to have a major takeaway from our latest sleeve of games.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: And um I'll kind of start with my perspective.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I was on site for um what I like to term as one of the one of the most true Friday Night Lights experiences I've probably ever been a part of.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um Snook Christian was hosting Bayshore Christian um with the both teams were Eagles, the hosting Eagles.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, it was their first true homecoming at their new on-campus stadium, which was recently constructed over the summer.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and outside of some you know, random downpours, which have been the theme of the past two weeks, it seems like, um, it was a great experience.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was from the excitement of the fans and players to having the homecoming there.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: There were food trucks around in the field.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: The stadium itself kind of has this almost um, you know, field of dreams feel to it, where you know, you look around and it's just kind of, you know, it's very empty and sits out off on its own and just, you know, it's very flat out there.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, it's just a really cool scene out there.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and with neither Bayshore nor Snook having played football for for 10 years, um, Bayshore just, I believe it's their third, maybe fourth season.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and Snook, I believe, is just under 10.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it'll be interesting to look back, you know, kind of years down the line at how far these programs have come in the area.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, JC Todd with Bay Shore, Keith Smith with Snook, both kind of know what it takes to build a program from the ground up.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they're just kind of currently taking on the challenge and running with it.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: So um it was a really fun game.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Bay Shore came out in top 40 to 20, um, picking up their second win of the season.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: So definitely, uh definitely two programs that um, you know, also we're we're very interested in kind of having this be a consistent rivalry each year.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now that they've uh with reclassification, they they've been able to play games a lot closer to home, both of those schools.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is one that they're looking forward to.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I know they also, um, unless I'm mistaken, both teams will play Bayside Academy.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: I know Snook will base shore might as well.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And oh, they already have, yes.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: So both teams also play Bayside.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: So you're getting kind of some some intra county uh private school rivalries maybe starting up, which which would be good for those programs.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I know they're looking forward to it.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, definitely, definitely a fun one last Thursday.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, John, I'll throw it to you.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Just kind of your your major takeaway from uh uh a rainy couple uh couple of weeks of games.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Man, it's it's gonna do it again.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, here we are another Thursday night with a whole bunch of football games to watch.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um this storm is a lot more scary than uh than last week.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, there wasn't nothing too the last one, but um, yeah, I think they're probably doing the right thing to do that.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um gonna be a fun night to try to keep up with all those games.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: But um it's um hopefully we'll you know we'll come through safe and um maybe we can get on a regular schedule next week and have to quit having to make things up as we go along.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Here's open, yeah, especially as we start getting into playoffs more.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that would uh they these teams got to get these games in, and uh, you know, the the weather doesn't seem like it's cooperating.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: But uh everybody's been very uh to their credit, everybody's been very flexible.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't heard anything being canceled or postponed, and everything's just been able to be moved up.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um I know, you know, for instance, I might I know Foley had their homecoming ceremony or um Hall of Fame ceremony and uh the T-Mobile's visiting for their Friday night uh 5K lights uh deal.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, I I think they're still planning on doing all that on Thursday as well.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: So uh we'll see kind of a name of the game is just uh survive and adapt at this point uh with high school ball in the area.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um and that kind of leads us into um you know what so coming slate of games, and you know, we we've touched on a couple times already, and we'll we'll start with where I'll be at kind of in person.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh marquee rivalry matchup between Foley and Daphne, uh one we've kind of had circled for for a while as one of those kind of major swing games um in the district.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Lions hoping to make a sizable leap up the district standings with a win.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they sit one game um back of um uh Foley and uh or excuse me, Daphne and Fairhope at the moment, uh, while the Trojans can strengthen their grip on that top spot um as the schools are meeting for also the 31st time in their history.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'll I'll pose you a quick question.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: What do you take a guess?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think the series record is between those two?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Unless you've already read my preview.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: I imagine it's pretty close for it to be an even.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: I would think Daphne might have a slight edge, maybe four or five games, something like that.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Incorrect.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Daphne leads all time 23 to 7.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: 23 to seven.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's been somewhat lopsided.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: I believe they are winners of my head.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's three in a row.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote about this yesterday.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: I should know it.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: I believe it's three in a row for Daphne overall, and I think it's six the last seven or something along those lines.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so recent dominance, but fully will be at home for this game.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they're kind of riding a winning streak of their own.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Their offense has been just beyond explosive this season.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, um, you know, Judas Spencer at quarterback, um, but you've also, I mean, Jackson, the the Jack Rabbit, as he's known, Dixon um has been dynamic at receiver, but Cameron Page, they've had a bunch of guys really step up within that offense.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was there for that game against Baker a couple weeks ago.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: That was just a crazy shootout and was a huge win for Foley.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then they took down Davidson last week.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I think the the issue, um, and we've talked plenty about Daphne already.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think the the issue for me in kind of you know making a pick for this game is you know, who's uh both of these offenses are great, you know, balanced, you know, they they can score at will against probably most teams in in the area.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um it comes down to which defense do I trust more?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And Foleys, unfortunately, um they are I think seventh out of eight teams in the district in terms of points allowed per game.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they've just they've had to get in a ton of shootouts to win games this season.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it's just I mean, there's a myriad of reasons kind of for that.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um coaching staff has you know talked plenty about it throughout the season, and yet, you know, even playing a team in Davidson last week who hadn't won a game yet, they still let up 28 points.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: So um I just I trust Daphne's defense to a couple more stops, a couple of turnovers, win the field position battle, etc.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they're gonna be able to outlast them.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it'll be back and forth.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: I I really could see this being coin flip, and he could really shake up the district standings if especially if Foley wins.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: So uh we'll we'll definitely be interesting to watch just kind of what your your thoughts on you know if if foley can kind of pull off the the slight upset, I guess.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, the only losses they have were on the road, so they play well better home, apparently.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that'll help.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um they have given up a lot of points.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: I know there's at least three times they gave up more than uh 40, and one of those was 50.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and Daphne will will take advantage of that if if uh if they're weak on the defensive side.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think it'll end up being kind of close until late, you know, maybe a 20 to 17.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean uh 27 to uh 20 or something like that, you know.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: But uh I feel like Daphne will probably be a little bit stronger, especially with their defense.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: And to to that point, I mean it's it seems like almost every game fully has played this year has been close and come down to the final call possession, especially their home games, you know, the Spanish Ford game, Baker game coming to mind, um, you know, both requiring kind of big plays in the last minute.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: So could be in for another thriller uh at Ivan Jones Stadium on Thursday night, kind of has been the uh the theme of the year for for head coach Brian Moore and his first season at the helm.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but over in Fair Hope, um also being moved up to Thursday night.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that that was the other thing.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Quick aside, a lot of homecoming games this week, which was really difficult for a lot of these schools rescheduling.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: I know Francis St.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Michael had to reschedule their dance to um, I believe October 24th, it was supposed to be on Saturday.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so just a lot of tough, tough kind of you know, decisions and things being moved around.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but Fairhope moved their homecoming up Thursday night.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: They'll be hosting Baker, um, a team we've talked a little bit about already.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but Caleb Ross in his first season, I mean, out after you know, going down a pace, and you know, game goes how it goes, 41-0.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously it's a great pace, you know, team down in Florida.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so you you take that and you roll with it.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: And since then, they've won every game.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: They've been um improving each week, it seems like they've just been physically imposing, a gritty group.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, from what I saw in person when they played uh foley, though, Baker boasts plenty of perimeter speed and a talented quarterback uh to kind of create a really dynamic offensive attack.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: So um it's kind of a clash of styles here um between a kind of physically run first, um, you know, Fair Hope attack that's gonna be a little more thoughtful.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, whereas Baker is gonna, you know, look to take the top off the defense.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, it's interesting to see how that will play out.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a um Fairhope has already played two teams um in my eyes that are a little similar to Baker in terms of play style with uh Foley and Baldwin County as well.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um and both those teams were able to score on them, but just not enough in the end.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Baldwin County kind of fizzled out in the second half and Foley was somewhat similar.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so we'll see if Baker can, you know, kind of physically contend and stay fresh when the fourth quarter rolls around, because that's what Fair Hope seems like they they kind of pride themselves on.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, John, your your quick thoughts on this kind of clash of styles here.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, both teams have have really good quarterbacks.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think the difference will be what you were talking about is that the Fair Hope's running back, um Nick R.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: I can't say his last name.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Ronzo lost his valve valley.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know as I talked to him and he told it to me.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: And he's he's doing great and uh he'll he'll continue to do well, and that'll probably provide the difference.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um have him in that running game.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: That Baker quarterback sure is good.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: I watched a lot of that Foley game, and uh that kid can he can he can play, but I don't know if he'll have enough you know to get by uh fair hope, you know, at their homecoming too.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's the other thing with them, with them being on the road.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's interesting.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, Tate uh Tate Graham with uh with Baker there has been having a phenomenal season as well.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we'll we'll see.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Should be uh should be an interesting game.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's a district contest as well.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, standing implications with that one too.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but lastly, uh we'll kind of wrap it up with uh with the local team going on the road this week, actually.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's it's a huge one.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, again, we're talking about jockeying for district positioning right now.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, these are two teams kind of long goal alongside Gulf Shores that are really towards the top of the standings in their uh their region at 5A, and that's Spanish Fort uh taking their four-game winning streak on the road when they go visit Theodore, um, who's had somewhat of an up and down season, but you know, still has, you know, obviously historically uh a pretty strong football predigree, but also, you know, at four and two overall and coming off a dominant win over blunt, they they feel like they're kind of hitting their stride.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so kind of a pivotal swing game between fairly even sides.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, as we talked about earlier, Spanish 4 can set up a massive home date with Gold Shores next week, if he can get out of this one with the victory.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: So just kind of your your early thoughts of them going on on the road to Theodore.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm personally new to the area, not as familiar with Theodore.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: So just kind of what do you think about Spanish Fort's chances going on the road?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I like them in this game uh a little bit.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um Theodore, like you said, has been up and down.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um if they get Theodore's best game, they might have a chance to upset them.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: But I think Spanish Ford is kind of plowing along, they're getting a rhythm.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um I like the way at the end of the during the second, I mean the second half, when the game gets starts to get a little close, they just let that quarterback run the ball.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he just runs right, runs left, runs right.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: And um they got a good a good plan and a good uh overall um everywhere's pretty good.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Their defense is gonna be, you know, pretty good, gonna be well.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: And um I still think Theodore can they have a really good region record so far, but I don't know.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is gonna be a Spanish Fort win, and it's setting up that big um that big game with Gulf Shores.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you know Gulf Shores gotta win too.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, fingers crossed, hopefully that'll uh that'll create a massive matchup in the area next week.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but but yeah, I think a Spanish Ford to wrap them up, they're they're I won't say they're the only team, but they're they're the first one that comes to mind when I think about someone that had an identity from game one.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: You saw that Daphne game.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: They made Daphne play their game and they won 18-15.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: It was a grinded out, low-scoring game, defensive battle.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Jalen Thibodeau comes up with the plays late with his legs.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and not to remove the rest of the offense made some plays as well, but that's been their style since the jump.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so they they really ran with that.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, head coach Jay Smith has been doing it for a while.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: He kind of he knows what can work with his team and his personnel.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, we'll see if that travels on the road, but usually defense in a good running game does.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that that bodes well for for Spanish Ford going forward.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of interesting games as we kind of uh hit the uh hit the latter stages of the season.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, John, does it feel like we've only got after this week, we'll only have three weeks the regular season left.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: Does that feel right?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: No, it does not.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: Feels like we just got started again.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I feel like I just moved down here and it's already, you know, almost mid-October, which is uh incredible.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: But uh a lot of luckily for us, there are a lot of big games.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we touched on Gulf Shore Spanish Fort, Daphne Fairhope also is still to come.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then that final week, we got Foley at St.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Michael, Bayside at Gulf Shores, a lot of kind of non-district games that'll be really fun.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: So plenty to look forward to um as we get through the rest of the season.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: But I'll about kind of wrap up uh what we have for you guys today.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as always, if you enjoyed what you heard, be sure to share it on social media platforms and tell family, friends, or whoever you think is going to be interested in a sports podcast with Baldwin County Twist.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but we'll be back for another episode at the same time next week.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: So stay safe this weekend and enjoy this later games uh before we catch up with you guys again.