Only two quarterbacks in Alabama have thrown for more than 3,000 yards through Week 12 and one of them is a freshman, Gunner Rivers, at Fairhope’s St. Michael Catholic.

The Cardinals’ first-ever playoff berth closed with a 68-38 loss to Handley in the first round Friday night but not before Rivers set a season-high in completions (32) and passing yards (516) to help record his fifth 3-touchdown game of the season.

He finished his debut varsity campaign with 3,077 yards on 229-of-362 passing with 29 touchdowns against 4 interceptions to go along with 59 rushing yards on 16 carries with 2 touchdowns and a 1-yard touchdown catch.

On Tuesday’s MaxPreps leaderboards for Alabama, Rivers trailed only Tuscaloosa Academy junior Preston Lancaster who has racked up 3,222 yards on 204-of-291 passing with 42 touchdowns against 9 interceptions. Lancaster and the Knights will play in the second round after a 35-16 win Friday.

Enterprise 63, Daphne 28

The Trojans finished 6-5 overall after their first postseason berth since 2021. This year's Daphne squad outscored opponents 336-292.

Senior running back Nick Clark closed his Trojan career with a second consecutive 1,000-yard season where he collected triple-digit rushing yards in 6 of his 11 games played according to stats on MaxPreps.

Clark used a career-high 223 yards in Daphne’s playoff-clinching win over Foley in Week 10 to surpass the millennium mark. The AHSAA All-Star finished the year with 1,125 rushing yards on 154 carries with 12 touchdowns on top of 21 catches for 251 receiving yards with 2 touchdowns for 1,386 all-purpose yards.

Junior Andre Houston was the Trojans’ regular-season tackling leader with 85 in 9 games played with 5 tackles for loss, 6 quarterback hurries and 1 forced fumble.

Junior Cayden Williams was next with 79 total tackles in 10 games with 8 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 10 quarterback hurries, 3 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble and a 25-yard pick-6. Junior Marquaes Lambert was the sack leader with 8 in 10 games to complement 56 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 22 quarterback hurries.

Jacksonville 35, Bayside Academy 7

The Admirals finished 8-3 overall following a fifth consecutive trip to the state playoffs. This year's Bayside Academy squad outscored opponents 310-202.

Southern Miss baseball signee Teague Broadhead was the Admirals’ leading rusher and the second-leading tackler during the regular season. In 10 games, the senior logged 609 rushing yards with 6 touchdowns — including a walk-off score against St. Michael — and 101 total tackles with 2 interceptions for 90 return yards.

It was sophomore Billy Neill who led the defense with 114 total tackles and 3 forced fumbles in the regular season to go along with 11 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 3 pass breakups.

Fellow sophomore Damien Tate was the second-leading rusher and receiver with 583 rushing yards on 77 carries with 3 touchdowns as well as 371 receiving yards on 27 catches with 2 touchdowns. Senior Tait Moore was the leading touchdown-getter with 8 through the air to complement a team-high 576 receiving yards on 31 catches and 6 on the ground to go along with 64 rushing yards on 11 carries.

Sophomore Sammy Dunn sat 50th on the MaxPreps leaderboards as of Tuesday with 1,649 yards on 111-of-152 passing with 18 touchdowns against 9 interceptions through 10 games. He had added 40 rushing yards on 25 carries as well.

Handley 68, St. Michael Catholic 38

The Cardinals finished 6-5 overall and made the program's first playoff appearance. This year's St. Michael team set scoring records for a single game (55) and a single season (412) to help outscore opponents by 84 points.

Only a dozen Alabamian receivers eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards on MaxPreps’ leaderboards and Cardinal sophomore Brody Jones was seventh with 1,125 yards in 9 games.

He caught a touchdown pass in all but one game and finished with 11 scores to go along with 11 rushing yards on 4 carries with 1 touchdown, a 3-yard touchdown pass, a 47-yard pick-6 and 300 return yards for 1,486 total yards.

St. Michael senior Martin Corte, the Cardinals’ leading rusher, also eclipsed the millennium mark in total yards over 8 games played. Corte collected 648 rushing yards on 116 carries with 13 touchdowns, 255 receiving yards on 29 catches with 4 touchdowns, a 1-yard touchdown pass and 98 kickoff return yards for 1,002 total yards.

Juniors Toby Edmiston (58) and Ollie Deese (52) led the St. Michael defense with more than 50 total tackles where Edmiston added 11 tackles for loss, 1 sack and 1 interception and Deese recorded 9 tackles for loss, 1 interception and 5 pass breakups.