Two Class 7A, Region 1 leaders showed up at Jubilee Stadium on Friday night. Fairhope’s Caden Creel took the title with him when the Pirates left.

In the Trojans’ stiffest test yet of the season, they had no answers for the Pirates’ magical senior quarterback as he guided the fifth-ranked Pirates to a 26-7 victory over their Eastern Shore rivals. Creel passed and rushed for a touchdown and racked up 133 yards rushing.

“He runs around back there and it’s almost like trying to tackle a ghost,” Pirates coach Tim Carter said. “He just makes guys miss, and we’re glad to have him.”

Indeed the 5-10, 180-pound Creel was playing at a different speed than anyone else on the field, using his feet and quickness to escape time and again. He consistently extended plays, giving receivers time to get open or many times just taking off himself.

His 50-yard touchdown run gave the Pirates (6-1, 3-1) a 20-0 with just 3 minutes gone in the third quarter. It was a thing of beauty as he spun away from what seemed like every Trojan defender and stepped out of a tackle at the 25 before outracing one last defender to the end zone.

“My dad pushes me really hard,” Creel said. “We go out and throw and do a lot of agility stuff. But one of the main things is that hard work just pays off. “

The Pirates came in still stinging from a shocking 39-38 loss to Foley last week and came out with a purpose to do something about it.

The defense was stifling from the jump and running back Preston Godfrey filled in nicely for the injured Quailin McCants — 111 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, while also hauling in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Creel.

The lone score for Daphne (3-4, 3-1) came on Nick Clark’s 8-yard run and Baylor Beard’s PAT.

Star of the game: Creel. See above.

Play of the game: With Daphne trailing 20-0 in the third, and desperately trying to get something going, the Pirates’ defense turned them away with a fourth-and-6 stop, as Trojans quarterback Stephon Blackshear was swarmed by Fairhope defenders 3 yards short.

You could almost feel the energy leave the Trojans’ sideline.

Key sequence: With Fairhope already up 7-0, Daphne punter Beard pinned the Pirates deep in their own territory with a kick that was downed at the 5. But Creel turned magician and led the Pirates on a 13-play, 95-yard drive capped with his touchdown pass to Godfrey for an emphatic statement.

Stat sheet: Creel was 11-for-20 passing. Clark carried 13 times for a hard 68 yards for Daphne.

By the numbers: 13, First-half first downs for Fairhope (they finished with 21 overall); 4, Beard first-half punts. 10, Wins by Fairhope in the rivalry (Daphne leads 24-10).

Coachspeak: “Creel is a heck of a quarterback. We knew we would have to contain him, but he did a heck of a job. The biggest thing is trying to keep him off the field, but unfortunately, we didn’t.” –Daphne coach Kenny King

They said it: “We were very upset about Foley. We talked about that all week. When I went to sleep that night (after the Foley game) I knew we were a better team than that, so we had to come out and shot that against Daphne.” –Godfrey.

What’s next? Both continue region play next Friday; Fairhope hosts Alma Bryant, and Daphne visits Mary Montgomery.