Kolin Wilson ran for 166 yards and a pair of touchdowns Friday night and the Gulf Shores’ defense returned three interceptions for touchdowns as the No. 1-ranked Dolphins cruised into the AHSAA Class 5A quarterfinals with a resounding 41-0 second-round shutout of Charles Henderson.

The win sets up Gulf Shores (12-0) with a quarterfinal matchup next week at Headland, 35-21 winners over UMS on Friday night.

The Trojans, who reached the title game in 2022, end their season at 7-4.

“We’ve been playing good defense all year long,” said Dolphins Coach Mark Hudspeth. “They feel like they still don’t get the respect they deserve so they came into tonight with a chip on their shoulders.

“They wanted to play well and they did.”

The defense played exceptionally well, as Trojans quarterback Parker Adams was running away from trouble all night long. That translated into some bad throws that the Dolphins turned into 21 points.

Ronnie Royal got the pick parade started with a 72-yard interception return in the first quarter and Carter Byrd brought one back from 30 yards away in the second period.

In between, Will Langston booted a 26-yard field goal and Wilson’s 15-yard run staked Gulf Shores to a 24-0 halftime lead.

It immediately got worse for Charles Henderson on the third play of the second half as Wilson ripped off a 66-yard scoring run on Gulf Shores’ third play from scrimmage and Landon Everett, who also had a fumble recovery, returned a third pick six 31-yards for a 38-0 lead.

Langston, who was true on all PAT attempts, closed the scoring with a 29-yard field goal just seconds into the final period.

“They didn’t do anything we didn’t expect,” said senior outside linebacker Kingston Lowe, who seemed to be in the Trojans backfield more than their own running backs all night long.

“We watched a lot of film on them, and we knew just about everything they were going to do.”

Play of the Game: Royal’s 72-yard return was actually the game winner, but more importantly it seemed to set a tone that the rest of the Dolphins defense followed.

By The Numbers: Minus-1: Rushing yards allowed by the Dolphins defense in the first half; 6: Sacks by Gulf Shores; 475: Points Gulf Shores has scored through 12 games (39.5 points per game average); 110: Number of points the Dolphins defense has allowed all season.

Game ball: Really? The Dolphins’ defense.

They Said It: “We practice being where we’re supposed to be and being patient on defense. We played well tonight.” — Royal.

“We played like a team that wasn’t prepared, and that wasn’t the case. But when you give up turnover after turnover this is what you get.” — third-year Trojans coach Quinn Hambrite.