FAIRHOPE, Alabama — The Fairhope Pirates got their first victory of the 2016 season, stunning their 7A Region 1 rival Baker Hornets with a 30-21 victory Friday night on W.C. Majors Field at Fairhope Municipal Stadium.

The Pirates and Hornets traded blows for the first three quarters of play with Fairhope striking first to take a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter before the Hornets answered back with a pair of scores, including a 61-yard fumble recovery to take a 14-7 lead with under a minute to play in the period.

Fairhope would answer back with a 73-yard drive to open the second quarter, knotting the score at 14-14 and the two teams traded defensive stands to end the first half knotted at 14.

The Pirates stifled the Hornets drive to end the second quarter, having to stop Baker twice after a roughing the kicker call on a fourth down punt gave the Hornets the ball back on the Pirate 25.

But a pair of Baker penalties pushed the ball back and the Hornets were stopped short with Terrance Gray defending on an incomplete pass on fourth down to give the Pirates the ball back with just under a minute to play in the half.

The second half started much the same as the first half ended with both teams making defensive stands before Baker scored just before the end of the third quarter to take a 21-14 lead, but Fairhope would drive right back to score early in the fourth period to knot things up again with 9:44 remaining in the game.

It would be the start of a 17-0 run for the Pirates when Noah May dropped Jakobe Rogers for a six-yard loss on second down, then intercepted Darius Bracy’s pass on third down to give the Pirates the ball back at the Hornet 27-yard line.

The Pirates would come up short on third down, setting up a 35-yard fieldgoal by Cole Deeds to give Fairhope its first lead since the 7:50 mark of the opening period at 24-21 with 6:27 left in the contest.

Fairhope took the ball back holding Baker to three-and-out, netting a loss of a yard on their ensuing drive to give the Pirates the ball back at their own 43-yard line.

After a pair of runs set up third-and-10, quarterback Dylan Casstevens ran for 28 yards to the Baker 29.

A Pirate penalty pushed the ball back to the 34 before running back Darnell Bell ran twice, including a 30-yard touchdown run, diving for the post with Deeds booting the extra point to give Fairhope a 30-21 lead with 2:20 remaining.

May would collect another INT on the next play and Fairhope was able to run out the clock for their first victory of the season.

“This was a big win for us,” said Pirate Head Coach Tim Carter following the contest. “Baker is a good team. They’re a class act and I’m so proud of our coaches and our players. We’ve gone through a lot of adversity this season with a lot of injuries and a lot of little things to overcome, but they kept working hard and never gave up and I’m extremely proud of them.”

While the defense had their usual stellar performance for the Pirates, Carter said, the offense really stepped up with their best performance of the year, led by dueling quarterbacks Casstevens and Devin Mitchell, who combined for 13 of 19 passing for 130 yards and 90 yards rushing in the contest.

“Devin is really starting to come into his own, providing a running threat for us, but he can also throw the ball,” Carter said. “That’s taken some of the pressure off of Dylan, but he really stepped up in the second half converting a couple of crucial third-down plays with his feet when we needed them. They are really starting to get into a groove and push each other. That was a huge win for us tonight and hopefully it won’t be our last.”

Darnell Bell also had a standout performance for the Pirates, running for 128 yards on 16 carries with a pair of 30-yard runs for scores. Mitchell added a touchdown pass and Casstevens ran for a score.

The Pirate defense intercepted Baker three times with Terrance Gray collecting an INT in addition to May’s two and Michael Tomaso collected a fumble recovery for the Pirates.

The Pirates, now 1-5 on the season, 1-3 in 7A Region 1 play, dropped the Hornets to even on both counts at 3-3 and 2-2. They will travel to Ladd-Peebles Stadium next to take on the Davidson Warriors in a Thursday night contest.