The young and untested Maplesville Red Devils had no answer for Linden’s tandem of Maurice Tate and Shantrell Braxton in the Patriots’ 34-0 win.

The loss snapped a 25-game regular season winning streak for Maplesville (4-1, 4-1 in region), and it was the first shutout for the Red Devils since 2003.

Maplesville coach Brent Hubbert said his team just made too many mistakes.

“We got tested tonight, and we failed,” he said. “We shot ourselves in the foot with penalties. If we don’t make those mistakes, we could have had a different outcome.”

The game plan for Linden (6-0, 5-0 in region) was simple: run Tate up the middle and run wide with Braxton. Tate finished with 151 yards and two scores on 27 carries while Braxton had 125 yards and two scores on 15 carries.

Maplesville was led by Hunter McCay with 56 yards on 10 carries followed by Chris Bailey 21 yards on seven carries.

Maplesville’s deepest threat came on their final possession of the first half. They drove it down to the 25-yard line thanks in part to a 34-yard Matt Hamner run, but a fumble on fourth-and-1 with 1:00 left in the half ended the threat.

Between Braxton’s two fourth-quarter scores, Larente Taylor returned an interception 40 yards for the touchdown.

Maplesville looks to rebound next week at Akron while Linden travels to Sunshine.