FAIRHOPE, Alabama - Three second-quarter touchdowns helped Fairhope enjoy a 28-6 halftime cushion over visiting Andalusia as senior Nate Andrews led FHS to close the regular season with a 49-14 win at W.C. Majors Field Friday night.

Andrews threw three TD passes and ran for two. Ernest Andrews rushed for a 15-yard score, Landon Lasseter returned a punt 55 yards for the final TD and John Baxter was 7-for-7 on point-after-touchdown kicks.

The Bulldogs showed up with winning on their minds and scored on their first drive frustrating the usually stingy Pirate defense.

"We knew that Andalusia was going to come to play," Fairhope coach Adam Winegarden said. "They do some things on offense and defense that we don't see a lot and did a good job executing. Game 10 is always strange because it is two uncommon teams. Our region is so tough with a lot of adrenaline and so many ups and downs that I think it is a tough week to get ready to play. We made some mistakes tonight but our kids adjusted and we made enough plays to win the game. And I think our team was excited and looking a little ahead to the playoffs but Andalusia did a lot of good things on defense that shut down our running game. So I hope the upside is that this will help us tune up for next week."

Fairhope (7-3) travels to Ladd-Peebles to play Region 1 runner-up Davidson Friday at 7 p.m. in round one of the 6A state playoffs. The 6-4 Bulldogs travel to play Beauregard in the 4A playoffs.

AHS scored on their first drive of 29 yards following a turnover and on their first possession of the second half that went 77 yards but both took a combined time of 11 minutes, 25 seconds. The Pirates scored 35 points with an average drive time of 3:59.01. Both teams lost two fumbles and David Ford picked off AHS quarterback Michael McCalman to give the Pirates a 3-2 edge in turnovers. The FHS defense also forced five punts but failed to stop a fake on a fourth-and-three.

The Bulldogs' Ty Wallace scored the first points of the game on a 6-yard run but the try-for-two conversion was no good. Andalusia scored again to open the third quarter when McCalman tossed to LeVonte Quintoiain and then found Jalen Cross on the 2-point conversion screen pass.

Andrews' TD strikes were 64 yards to David Kirksey, 61 yards to Rushing Watson and 55 yards to Dakota Morgan while his scoring runs of 9 and 6 yards capped drives of 57 and 76 yards. Ernest Andrews' TD wrapped up a 51-yard campaign. Edward Chaney and James Bond came up with the fumble recoveries and Nicholas Patti recovered an onside kick for the Pirates on his birthday.

"Nate Andrews did a good job of getting the ball to our wide outs while he also made some nice plays in space," Winegarden said. "He never ceases to amaze me. But I'm so proud of all these guys. I love our team so much. We've been through some ups and downs together but I've been really proud of how they have battled through them and how they look at each week as an opportunity to grow—not only as a football team but to learn life lessons. And I think that's the important thing at the end of the day: To learn how to be part of a team and get through adversity. Now we're going to focus on the task ahead and get ready for the post season."