GULF SHORES, Alabama — After the dust settled on an up-and-down 2011 football season Gulf Shores Dolphin head coach Ben Blackmon knew one area where his team needed to improve to be successful in 5A, Region 1.

The Dolphins had to improve in the weight room to compete in what many coaches call the SEC of Alabama high school football. Blackmon decided to focus the Dolphins’ weight training schedule on Olympic lifts like squats, bench press and power cleans, and the results were remarkable. The Dolphins’ team average on power clean went from 175 lbs. in November to 210 lbs. this summer. The team’s bench press average gained 35 lbs. and its squat max gained 65 lbs.

“Our strength numbers have gone through the roof in the offseason,” Blackmon said. “It was disappointing to see those numbers when we maxed out after the season last November.”

Gulf Shores finished 5-5 in Blackmon’s first season on Pleasure Island, but the coach said his team has responded very well in the spring and summer.

“Every one of them have shown up with a positive attitude. Tough times create tough people. When the game is on the line you have to have tough people that want to dig down a little deeper. It comes down to who has the most pride. Week in and week out, are we going to have the best athletes on the field? Maybe, maybe not, but we are going to have the ones on the field who believe in themselves and have pride and do things the right way.”

Junior center Lee Michael McVay leads the team on the bench with a 320-pound max, up from 250 in November. He moved from left tackle to center in the offseason.

“That’s where the coaches need me, so I’m going to try to do my best,” McVay said. “I feel more comfortable not having to worry about fast defensive ends. I can be inside, in the middle of it. It feels more comfortable to me.”

The Dolphins start this season with a quarterback battle for the first time in at least four seasons. Junior Parker Mason and senior Colby Simmons headed into fall practice in a fight for the position.

“We are going to play the guy who makes the fewest mistakes,” Blackmon said. “That’s going to be evaluated through practice and watching film. There is a lot that goes into being a quarterback. Its not just who has a gunslinger arm. You have to be a leader on the field. You have to empower your teammates to play at a higher level.

“I want my quarterback, when he goes on the field, to be the eraser on the board. When you draw up plays on the board, whoever has the eraser last is always going to win. You want that guy to be your quarterback, the guy who can think you around the field.”

Mason played strong safety for the Dolphins last season.

“I think we can be really good on offense if we can get everybody on the same page,” Mason said. “We have a lot of guys who are playing in a lot of different spots. We’ve just to get everybody to buy into it.”

Another player who switched positions in the offseason is senior Daniel Laborde, who played defense last season but could see time as a running back and receiver this season.

“We have a lot of experience on defense and I think that will give us a lot of confidence that will translate over to the offense,” Laborde said. “We have pretty good athletes at every position and our line is starting to click. We have a lot of confidence going into the season.”

Gulf Shores will visit Foley on Aug. 24 in a preseason jamboree and opens the season at home on Aug. 30 against Satsuma.

The Dolphins host Spanish Fort (Sept. 14), Baldwin County (Sept. 28), Vigor (Oct. 5) and Williamson (Oct. 19) and visit Faith Academy (Sept. 7), St. Paul’s (Sept. 21), LeFlore (Oct. 12), BC Rain (Oct. 26) and Citronelle (Nov. 2).