By By Chandler Myers
The Dolphins of Gulf Shores soured Escambia County’s homecoming Friday night at Herbert Barnes Stadium, as the Blue Devils were defeated 35-14.
The Blue Devils (2-5, 1-4) failed to gain ground in their region after picking up their first region win last week.
The night started rough for ECHS as they were forced to punt on their first drive after going three and out.
It did not get any better on the Dolphins’ first series, as the Blue Devils were penalized three times for off sides.
Blue Devils head coach Kyle Davis said penalties hurt his team early in the game and helped the Dolphins move down the field easily.
Even with the penalties the Blue Devils forced a punt, but were unable to capitalize on their series of plays posting another three and out.
On first-and-10 from the Blue Devils’ 39-yard line, Dolphin quarterback Logan Paul hit receiver Bernard Nesbitt with a 39-yard bomb that put the visiting team on top 6-0. A two-point conversion was converted by Dolphins running back Kyle Stringfellow to make the score 8-0.
Offensively, ECHS could not find any momentum and after posting one first down were forced to punt again.
Starting at their own 21-yard line, the Dolphins began tacking off yardage, with Stringfellow picking up nine yards on first down. On second-and-one, Paul hit receiver Ross Davis with a 29-yard rocket to pick up another first down. After a zero yard gain and an incomplete pass, Paul hit Stringfellow for 19-yard pick up as the first quarter ended.
As the second quarter began, Gulf Shores picked up where it left off and moved down into the red zone and on second-and-five Paul hit Nesbitt for another touchdown, and with the extra point the Dolphins extended their lead by 15.
Late in the second quarter momentum swung in the Blue Devils’ favor as Demarco Montgomery forced and recovered a fumble to get ECHS the ball back with a few minutes left before halftime.
Just before the half, as the Blue Devils were driving, sophomore quarterback Rico Stallworth threw an interception.
Stallworth finished the game completing 5-of-15 passes for 86 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while he carried the ball 17 times for 76 yards and a touchdown.
The second half started with the ECHS defense churning up momentum forcing a Dolphin punt, which led to the Blue Devils driving 36 yards for a touchdown.
ECHS scored on a two-yard scramble by Stallworth to make the score 15-6, with place kicker Nik Radojicic’s extra point closing the gap, 15-7.
The defense picked up the momentum again forcing Paul to throw an interception to senior linebacker Marc Hale. The momentum would be short-lived as on second down Stallworth passed to senior running back Michael Thomas who was stripped of the ball on a controversial call. The ball was scooped up by a Dolphins defender and returned to the Blue Devils six-yard line.
On first-and-goal, Gulf Shores’ fullback Josh Reeves ran the ball six yards to increase the lead, 22-7.
The Blue Devils would score again in the fourth quarter as Stallworth drove the offense down the field with a 10-yard shuffle, a 29-yard pass to junior wide receiver Jon Dean, another five-yard scramble and a 25-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Nick Flowers. The score put the Blue Devils down 28-14 in the fourth quarter.
Davis said these plays looked like they could possibly boost momentum for the Blue Devils, but other plays negated it.
As time wore down in the game, the Blue Devils defense faltered again as the Dolphins put another score on the board bringing the final score to 35-14.
Dolphins head coach Duane Davis said his team came ready to play and executed how they did in practice all week. He added that with the lead he was able to run the offense how he likes.
ECHS head coach Davis said it was a tough game for the guys and after the controversial turnover the team just had trouble gaining momentum.
ECHS travels to face region foe Citronelle next Friday.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.