Expect more of the same from revived Dolphin football program

Expect more of the same from revived Dolphin football program

By Fran Thompson
Behind MVP and North Carolina State commit Ronnie Royal, the Gulf Shores High School football team jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead and held on for a 21-14 win vs. defending champ Ramsey and the school’s first ever Alabama High School Athletic Association State Championship at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Dec. 7.
Playing in an ultra competitive Class 5A district, the Dolphins completed a dominant 15-0 season that showcased head coach Mark Hudspeth’s ability to instill into a high school program the same enthusiasm, schemes, routines and habits that helped him compile multiple championship campaigns as both a coordinator and head coach in college.
“The team was just so well prepared in every game. You could tell the difference,’’ said former Miami Hurricane player Robert Bantivoglio, a Gulf Shores resident and avid fan who attended the title tilt and every home game.
“Ronnie Royal was the best player in every game. But I don’t think we necessarily dominated because we had better athletes, especially in the championship game.
“We were just always able to play as a team. Even though we didn’t play a perfect game in Tuscaloosa. We came out fast and ready and got ahead of a team that was probably not used to being behind.
“We were able to take the life out of them, which is what we did all year,’’ he added. “We dominated on both lines and pushed them around. The stunts, the screens and the way we were looping kids and doing college type scheming. Those are things you don’t see other high school teams do.’’
The 11 coaches that MaxPreps lists in the GSHS directory, include former Louisiana and Colorado offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue, who also coached at Spanish Fort before joining the GSHS staff.
And the staff is so deep that Rodrigue is not a coordinator. That position on defense belongs to Brian VanGorder, who served in that capacity for Bowling Green, Louisville, Georgia, the Auburn Tigers and the Atlanta Falcons. (Yes. He was an NFL defensive coordinator for four years. Plus, he won the Broyles Award in 2003 as the country’s top assistant coach while at Georgia).
Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield had the same job at South Alabama, North Alabama and Troy.
What football player with aspirations to play in college would not want to play for coaches who would be at home in any D-1 football program and a program that is organized and run like a college team?
And what young football coach would not want to work with the PHD level football technicians that Hudspeth (Mississippi State, Louisiana, Austin Peay, Delta State, etc.) has gathered around him?
Gulf Shores improved from 6-4 to 11-2 to a state championship during its three years under Hudspeth’s tuteledge. The only team to come within single digits this year was Ramsey.
Although Gulf Shores did not win a game during the school’s firt two seasons, the Dolphins had continuous success during the five years that followed with Duane Davis running the program.
Davis, who was fired by then first-year principal Ernie Rosado less than two weeks after the Dolphins made their first playoff appearance in school history, took over the program from Robby Guthrie, who went 1-28 during his three years with the program.
That success continued during the two glorious Mark Freeman years and the following four years with Ben Blackman. Both of those coaches were scooped up by Spanish Fort and have had continued success.
Freeman won four state championships at Bessemer Academy before going 13-9 at GSHS and leading the team to its first ever play-off victory. He then went 50-7 and won two state championships at Spanish Fort.
He has since won four consecutive state championships at Thompson. His team came within two points of claiming its fifth consecutive state title this month, losing 21-19 to Central-Phenix City in the Class 7A final.
Blackmon had a 21-20 record at Gulf Shores and then went 77-18 in seven years at Spanish Fort. He led the Toros to the Class 6A state title in his first year (2015) and the championship game in 2019 and 2020. His Enterprise team followed a 9-3 regular season by beating Daphne before losing to Mary Montgomery in the play-offs this season.
The Dolphin varsity took a step back after Blackmon left for Spanish Fort, as the team went 8-52 in the six years that followed Blackmon’s run.
All that changed with Coach Hud’s arrival.
On their way to perfection in the win column, the Dolphins registered five shutouts, including two in the playoffs. The team averaged 39.6 points per game while allowing just 8.9 points per game.
They stoned Eufalia 45-0 at home in the semifinals, after defeating Beauregard 48-7, Charles Henderson 41-0 and Headland 35-14 in earlier play-off games.
The obvious title game MVP, The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Royal is the best player ever to come out of Gulf Shores.
A first-team All-State pick in 2021 and 2022 for the Dolphins and in 2020 at Alexandria, Royal will surely earn all-state recogntion this year as well. He is projected as a defensive back at NC State and had two interception returns for TDs this year.
Royal was not even the state champions’ leading rusher. That honor went to speedy junior Kolin Wilson, who ran for a school record 1,916 yards on 196 carries and scored 30 TDs with 12 games of at least 100 yards. Wilson ran for 89 yards on 16 carries and scored on a 24-yard run in the title game.
Clinging to a touchdown lead after stopping Ramsey near its endzone midway through the fourth quarter, Gulf Shores put the ball in Royal’s hands for runs of 12, 11, 7, 29 and 26 yards that resulted in five first downs.
The Dolphins missed a short field goal with 3:30 left. But the defense responded with four consecutive stops. Royal ran for one more first down and quarterback Jud Harris took a knee to run out the clock.
The celebration began, and the celebration continues.
“At the end of the day, this guy has been a catalyst for us for three years,” Hudspeth said postgame. “I felt like he deserved the ball in the fourth quarter. We wanted to put it in his hands as a senior and let him put it away, and he certainly did that. It was a fitting night for him and a really good high school football game.”
Hudspeth is building a program that will continue to compete for state championships. The starting QB is just a freshman. Wilson will be back and also play D-1 football in 2025, if he wishes. (He also runs track.)
The Dolphin defense was led by senior linebackers Isaiah Hammac and Kingston Lowe (North Alabama commit). But soph linebackers Landon Everett and Jamichael Garrett were also huge cogs with big plays on the Dolphin goal line after Ramsey cut the lead to 21-14. Garrett and Everett, who earned Defensive Player of the Game accolades, both finished the championship game with seven tackles and one sack.
Blaize Thomas, who made a key play with an end zone interception, is a junior. Fellow defensive back Carter Byrd made five tackles. He is also a junior.
Royal’s 188 rushing and 38 receiving yards were impressive, but his ESPN Daily Top 10 worthy, one handed interception at the Dolphin four yard line was the play of the entire Super 7. It happened with 2:49 left in the third quarter and thwarted a Ramsey drive after momentum had shifted towards the defending champs. (See Page 20 picture.)
The game’s most tense series, from a Gulf Shores perspective, followed a Dolphin fumble that Q.B. Reese (an Alabama commit) forced and the Rams recovered at the Dolphin 5 yard line. Aided by a delay of game penalty, the Dolphin D stepped up, with Otto Brewer and Lowe, Everett and Garrett making plays. After a failed 4th-&-20 pass, Gulf Shores took over and put the ball in Royal’s hands for one final series.
“We really hadn’t been tested in the playoffs. At that point, it could have gone two ways. When we started making mistakes, we could have faltered and let it slip away,’’ Hudspeth said at the press conference. “But, when it got hairy, we responded in the right way and that was the difference because we could have let the wheels come off the bus.”