SPANISH FORT, Ala. — What many consider the roughest road in 5A high school football ramps up to the region ranks this weekend as Region 1 teams in Mobile and Baldwin County begin their season within the season.

With only two teams in the 5A Region 1 club, the Baldwin County rivalry between Gulf Shores and Spanish Fort gets more intense each year. Tonight they meet on The Hill at Spanish Fort, where the Toros will begin defense of their 2010 5A state title by flipping the ‘Phins and where the Dolphins hope to make the Bulls eat sea oats for a change. The atmosphere should be exciting and, though early, could have playoff implications.

Spanish Fort head coach Mark Freeman, who coached at Gulf Shores the last two seasons, said the rivalry and any hype about the coaching change doesn’t affect the overall goal.

“Win every game, especially region games. I want to win them all, our kids want that, they work hard to accomplish that. We have to approach Gulf Shores like any other team and St. Paul’s the week after and so on. It happens in coaching all the time, you meet up with guys you know, but the the bottom line is this is a region game and we have to win it.”

Ben Blackmon, who took over the Dolphin program after Freeman left, also said the rivalry factor is overshadowed by the seriousness of the region race.

“A tough region means you have to get ready quicker and not pay as much attention to other things surrounding who you are playing because they are all tough,” he said. “You really have no off weeks in a region like this. You just have to get really good at what you do and go.”

Freeman said among the things Gulf Shores is good at is blitzing.

“On defense they blitz a lot and we have to be prepared on every play,” he said. “They have a lot of talent on offense and defense. Have a great quarterback (Brandon Silvers), receiver in Chris Tilley and running back with Josh Carroll and they are going to make big plays. We have to limit that and try to turn in some big plays ourselves.”

Blackmon’s take on the Toros is their athleticism on defense.

“Spanish Fort is very athletic on the defensive side. They have a defensive end (Demarco Montgomery) who is a game changer. We will have to make sure we know where he’s at all the time. And they have a very talented secondary as well. On offense, they do a good job of spreading you out and getting the ball to athletes in space. We still have a lot of things to work on, but we're working hard to be ready.”

The Toros are coming off a non-region loss to 6A Fairhope 35-21 while the Dolphins defeated 6A Robertsdale in their non-region opener 9-6.

Kick off at Spanish Fort is at 7 p.m.