Gulf Shores senior Elijah Malone did a little bit of everything Friday night — and the box score is the shortest way to explain why.
A pick-six. A forced fumble. A sack. Plays on offense. A big return on special teams. Malone found a way to make an impact in all three phases as Gulf Shores defeated St. Paul’s 34-10, helping the Dolphins beat the Saints for the first time since 2009.
The performance earned Malone the Big Friday Kickoff Player of the Week award, sponsored by Rich’s Car Wash.
The Stat Line
Malone’s final numbers show just how many ways the senior contributed. He returned an interception for a touchdown, forced a fumble and recorded a sack on defense. Offensively, he caught two passes for 34 yards and completed a pass for 24 yards. He also added a 31-yard punt return on special teams.
Completing a pass is the outlier in that list. A defensive back who also catches passes is common enough at the high school level; one who throws a 24-yard completion in the same game is not. Taken together, Malone touched the ball as a receiver, a passer, a returner and an interceptor in a single night, and generated a takeaway and a sack besides.
What His Coach Said
“You know, the guy did everything and he impacted the game in so many different ways,” Gulf Shores head coach Mark Hudspeth said. “He caught a pass, he completed a pass, he ran the ball, caught a punt, returned it 31 yards. He really impacted the game and was a big difference in our big win over St. Paul’s.”
Hudspeth also praised what Malone brings to the program beyond Friday nights. “He’s a great kid,” Hudspeth said. “Jacksonville State is getting a great young man, not only on the field but off the field. And I’m very proud that he’s a Gulf Shores Dolphin.”
Malone Credited the Defense
For his part, Malone pointed away from his own line and toward the unit around him.
“We really just came in that game with just a mentality to win,” Malone said. “Our defense just played our best, gave our all, trusted each other and got the win.”
Holding St. Paul’s to 10 points supports the point. A pick-six and a forced fumble are individual plays, but they are also the kind of plays that come out of a defense playing disciplined, collective football — pressure from one player creating an opportunity for another.
Breaking a 17-Year Drought
The result carries weight beyond a single week in the standings. Gulf Shores had not beaten St. Paul’s since 2009, making this the first win in the series in roughly a decade and a half.
Long droughts against a specific opponent tend to take on a life of their own inside a program, and ending one early in a season can reset expectations for what a roster believes it is capable of. That is particularly true when the win is decisive rather than narrow — 34-10 leaves little room to characterize the outcome as a fluke.
A Jacksonville State Commit
Malone is committed to Jacksonville State, which means his senior season is being played with his college destination already settled. That is a meaningful difference in how a player approaches a year: the recruiting pressure is resolved, and the focus shifts to the high school season itself.
Hudspeth’s comments suggest the program views Malone as the kind of player whose value shows up in places a recruiting profile does not capture — a point he made explicitly by describing what Jacksonville State is getting “not only on the field but off the field.”
The Award and the Sponsor
Rich’s Car Wash’s Brooke Million O’Donnell was on hand at Gulf Shores High School to help present Malone with this week’s award.
“We love being a part of the camaraderie and the community,” Million O’Donnell said. “The community has given to us so much in the past 50 years, and we’re just happy to give back to them and highlight great athletes like him in our area.”
Next Up: Saraland
Malone and the Dolphins now turn their attention to another significant matchup, traveling to Saraland on Friday night.
Saraland has been among the strongest programs in the region, and the road trip represents a substantially different test than a home game against a familiar rival. For a Gulf Shores team that just ended a long losing streak against St. Paul’s, it is an immediate opportunity to establish that the win was the start of something rather than a single good night.