Fans might expect to see plenty of offensive fireworks in Thursday’s Class 1A state championship game between Maplesville and Pickens County.

After all, Maplesville (14-0) can break the state record for points scored in a season by scoring 29 points in the game. And Pickens County running back Jermarcus Brown has racked up more than 2,225 yards and 34 touchdowns this season.

“It’s like playing Xbox,” MHS coach Brent Hubbert said. “He’s got all those moves.”

But the units trying to slow down these high-powered offenses are no slouches, either.

Hubbert said Pickens County features big defense that’s also fast, especially in the secondary, where Brown and Devonte’ Simon roam the field as safeties.

Simon also plays quarterback for the Tornadoes (14-0) and has taken the pressure off Brown by rushing for 922 yards and 13 TDs himself.

Simon is effective passing the ball, too, where he has taken advantage of a talented group of receivers to throw for 1,508 yards with 17 scores and only two interceptions.

“Devonte’ has been doing a good job of going through his reads and making the right throws,” Pickens County coach Patrick Plott said. “We’re getting better as the year goes. It all starts up front. They’ve been doing a good job of blocking, and [Brown] has been doing a good job of finding the holes.”

In each of its four playoff games, Pickens has scored more points than it did the previous week.

It will be difficult to continue that streak against Maplesville’s defense, which has shut out five opponents this season and hasn’t let a foe reach double digits on the scoreboard since an Oct. 11 game against Autaugaville.

Still, Plott said his team’s biggest challenge is finding a way to slow down the Maplesville offense.

Hubbert has no doubts his team knows what it will take to win Thursday and bring a second state championship to Maplesville.

“This is Week 15, so we’ve done the same thing for about 20 weeks now,” he said. “They know what to do. You’ve just got to execute.”

The game is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. Thursday at the University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

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