There’s a new No. 1 team in the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 5A state poll and for the first time in school history, it is the Gulf Shores Dolphins.

The defending state champion Ramsay Rams had held the top spot in four of the previous six polls before their second loss of the season, 14-7 to defending 7A champion Auburn, dropped them to No. 2. Of the Dolphins’ 209 poll points, they received 14 first-place votes to Ramsay’s 5.

What does the very first day as the top-ranked team in the land look like? Gulf Shores head football coach Mark Hudspeth said it’s not much different.

“It's like any other Wednesday. We're getting ready for practice and we haven't we haven't thought two things about it,” Hudspeth said. “It was nice to see that we're getting some great recognition for our community but our preparation remains the key to everything that we do so we're not going to sit back and dwell on this very much, I can assure you that.”

The former college coach in his third year as the Dolphins’ head man was sure to keep the focus on what the team achieves at the end of the season instead of the middle.

“I told our team today, it's all great to be number one right now, but it really doesn't matter. The only time it matters to be number one is after the last game of the season and putting an exclamation point on the season,” Hudspeth said. “We've got a lot of football left to be played and we still have to take it one game at a time.”

So far, that message has resulted in the team’s first 6-0 start to a season where half have come via shutout to complement 30-point efforts in all but one game. Despite outscoring opponents 33.5-8.3 on average, Hudspeth still sees Gulf Shores’ best football in the future.

“Our players are working really hard, they're the ones doing the work on the field. And I’m proud of this staff. Our preparation, like I told our team, is the difference each week,” Hudspeth said. “I hope they realize they've got a former NFL defensive coordinator, Brian VanGorder, and a former Division I offensive coordinator, Kenny Edenfield, doing the game plans for them each week. Their preparation, along with the rest of the staff’s, has given us a chance each week to be highly effective and efficient.

“Hopefully we can continue playing well, we still don't think we've played our best football yet and hopefully it's still ahead of us,” Hudspeth said.

The Dolphins’ first challenge as a No. 1 team comes in the form of the Williamson Lions, who Hudspeth believes is better than their 3-3 record indicates.

“One of their losses, they were they had the ball on Vigor's 3-yard line with a chance to win the game on the last play of the game,” Hudspeth said of Williamson. “They're talented across the board, they've got a lot of team speed and now with the number one ranking we'll have a little target on our back so that gives every other team a little extra motivation. We're going to get everybody's best shot each week so we've got to expect that and we've got to step up to that challenge and play awfully well.”

All the while, he and the team know the entire city is behind them and the head coach said that was part of the reason for their success.

“I'm just proud that we've been able to bring a program like this to Gulf Shores, I know that's what our community wanted. Our city school system, our city administration has really supported our program and given our players and coaches the resources that we need for our student-athletes to be competitive,” Hudspeth said. “And not just in football, but across the board in what's going on in Gulf Shores High School; both soccer teams last year played for the state championship. There's a lot of great things happening in Gulf Shores High School right now and it's a credit to the support that this community and administration are doing to give our student-athletes incredible opportunities and resources.”