GULF SHORES, Ala. — Homecoming night did not come easy for the Gulf Shores Dolphins (0-7) as they hosted a tough Daphne team (5-2, 3-1). The Trojans went on to a Class 6A Region 1 win 52-7.

The Dolphins could not control the heavy running attack of Daphne led by sophomore running back Mike Franklin who had 115 yards and accounted for five touchdowns. To make matters worse for the Dolphins, first-string quarterback Jackson Newman broke his on the road against Faith Academy.

Gulf Shores started quarterback-wide receiver dual weapon Caden Goodrich at the QB position. Goodrich has been playing all season but mostly as a runner on reverses and sweeps.

The first drive for the Trojans started with a 9-yard QB keeper from Chance Newman, a 14-yard run from Franklin followed by a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 7-0. Kyle Powell recovered a GS fumble for Daphne and Letarius Battiste scored two plays later on a 40-yard run with seven minutes, 56 seconds left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Franklin picked up rushes of 10 yards, 16 yards, 19 yards and finally a 15-yard touchdown to make the score 21-0. The Dolphins defense got a small victory by allowing a field goal including a pass breakup from the Dolphins Donovan Wedgeworth. But the Trojans scored two more touchdowns before halftime. Franklin added a 9-yard touchdown run and scored on a 10-yard pass from Daphne quarterback Chase Newman to end the half with the score 38-0.

At halftime, Gulf Shores High School announced the 15 princesses chosen by the students including the seniors that were in contention of being named homecoming queen. The girls walked onto the field with their fathers locked in arm. The title of homecoming queen was ultimately announced by the PA announcer and declared that Mary Marlowe Bailey was the queen. Bailey along with her father, Bart Bailey, were greeted by Gulf Shores High School principal, Dr. Ernie Rosado, and last year’s homecoming queen, Caitlyn Martin, with the crown and title sash.

After halftime, the Trojans put in backups especially after the first drive. The Dolphins kept most of their starters in until the 4th quarter. Gulf Shores did account for multiple tackles for losses including some from Wedgeworth and Jesse Wright. The Trojans offense was stopped on fourth down in the Dolphins’ red zone by Grey Loper and Jacob Craig forcing a turnover on downs. The Trojans scored again, however, on a 4-yard TD run by Franklin to make the score 45-0.

In the 4th quarter, the Dolphins forced a Daphne punt after a fumble caused a loss of 8 yards. Gulf Shores got on the board with backup quarterback John Paul Uter throwing a 49-yard touchdown pass to Devon Swainston to make the score 45-7. Finally, Daphne scored again with 2:07 left in the game on a 5-yard reverse run from Travion Goodins to make the final score 52-7.

Despite the score there was fight left in the Dolphins, even when the game was out of reach for the backups. After the game, Gulf Shores head coach Jamie Williams said that he, the players and the community are not satisfied with an 0-8 record.

“But in the end, all we can control is us.” He said. “How hard we play, did we do the right things, alignments, assignments and executions. And we will continue to play hard and fix those things and that’s all we can do.”

The Trojans are in third place in the region standings between second-place Spanish Fort and fourth-place Saraland heading into this Friday when Daphne will host No. 1 Blount. The Dolphins (0-8; 0-6) have a bye week before taking on Blount and finishing the regular season with visiting Robertsdale.