Ronnie Royal scored three touchdowns on special teams to lead Gulf Shores to a 43-21 victory over B.C. Rain as the Dolphins completed a perfect 10-0 regular season.

Royal returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown and scored on a 50-yard return of a free kick after the Dolphins defense recorded a safety at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores.

“I felt like tonight we really showed people who Gulf Shores is and what we are capable of,” Royal said.

Gulf Shores, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A, completed the first undefeated regular season in school history. The football program has been under AHSAA investigation this week after a member school turned them in for alleged violations.

Gulf Shores coach Mark Hudspeth said he’s confident the Dolphins have not broken any AHSAA rules.

“I just stand by what I said earlier that no one in our program or school has done anything wrong, and I’m just proud that people see that and proud of these boys because they’ve worked awfully hard,” he said. “This community is really behind us, as you can see by this atmosphere. I’m proud they will have the opportunity to represent this community in the playoffs.

“Adversity can sometimes pull you apart or sometimes you can circle the wagons,” he continued. “I think it gave us a motivation to circle the wagons. A lot of naysayers out there, and we just kept playing and kept the main thing the main thing and that was our preparation.”

For B.C. Rain, the loss ended the Red Raiders’ six-game winning streak.

Hot start: B.C. Rain’s Amari Yelding connected with Bryce Dowdlan on the second offensive play for a 76-yard score, and the Red Raiders held the Dolphins offense to only 28 yards total offense in the first quarter. “That got our attention real quick,” Hudspeth said.

Quick strikes: Gulf Shores exploded for five scores in the second quarter, including Royal’s three touchdowns. “My return game has come a long way.” Royal said. “I remember my first return in the eighth grade. I didn’t really know what to do with the ball, but my confidence has really grown in that area now.”

Star of the game: Royal finished with 51 yards rushing, had an interception on defense and scored on the three kick returns. “That’s the hidden yardage, hidden plays a lot of people don’t notice, but it proved to be big,” Hudspeth said.

Top play: Royal’s 90-yard kickoff return proved pivotal. After the Red Raiders drove 80 yards on six plays to take a 14-9 lead, Royal broke several tackles, and outran the Red Raiders defenders to the end zone. Gulf Shores led 16-14 and never trailed again.

What could have been: B.C. Rain gained over 200 yards in the first half, but scored just 14 points as Yelding also threw a 55-yard TD pass to Antonio Williams. “We went up 7-0, but it could have easily been 14- or 21-0. We had some dropped passes and two red zone interceptions. That hurt us offensively,” Yelding said.

Stat sheet: Yelding finished with 256 yards passing and three touchdowns … Bryce Dowdlan rushed for 108 yards on 24 carries for B.C. Rain and added 89 yards receiving. … Julius Rogers had a five receptions for 110 yards and a 63-yard touchdown for the Red Raiders. … Kolin Wilson rushed for 104 yards and scored on runs of 18, 5, and 4 yards for the Dolphins. He also had 42 yards receiving.

Did you know? B.C. Rain won seven regular-season games, the most since 2003.

Coachspeak: “That was probably the most talented team we’ve faced this season. Give them credit for continuing to play hard. They’ve got some big-play guys, and they stretched the field on us pretty good.” – Hudspeth, referring to B.C. Rain

He said it: “The great thing about playing the No. 1 team in the state is you see how far you have to go and right now we are knocking on the door, just have to clean up some mistakes.” –Yelding

What’s next? Gulf Shores (10-0) is set to host Beauregard in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs, while B.C. Rain (7-3) is also headed to the 5A playoffs.