Maplesville moves on after mauling McKenzie
Published 12:39 am Saturday, November 15, 2014
By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser
With two rounds of the Alabama high school football playoffs in the books, Chilton County’s lone remaining representative, Maplesville, shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon after a 69-20 win Friday over McKenzie.
Despite the lopsided final score, visiting McKenzie got the upper hand to start the game as Christian Adams fielded the opening kickoff and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown to put the Tigers up 6-0.
Maplesville started slowly on its first possession, but quarterback Cole Spencer connected with Kendarius Bradley on third-and-seven for an 87-yard touchdown pass.
With John Schoener adding the point-after, Maplesville took a 7-6 lead.
McKenzie’s next possession ended on a Nathaniel Watson 26-yard interception return for a touchdown to put Maplesville up 14-6.
The Red Devils poured it on for the remainder of the first half as they scored on four of their next six possessions.
Jerry Nix went in from 11 yards out to make the score 20-6 late in the first quarter.
Terrance Dunlap tacked on another Maplesville touchdown on a three-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 27-6.
As the MHS defense continued to stifle the visitors’ offense, Nix capped off another short 39-yard drive to put Maplesville up by 28 points with the game still early in the second quarter.
Dunlap added another touchdown to his tally on the night with a 69-yard touchdown scamper to bring the game to a 41-6 score at halftime.
The cold weather did nothing to cool down the Red Devil offense during the second half as Dunlap struck again on the first play of the second half with a 69-yard touchdown run. Just seconds into the second half, Maplesville took a 48-6 lead.
The Maplesville offense made it two-for-two with their its next possession as Trevor Wallace added another Red Devils touchdown on a 53-yard touchdown run to put Maplesville up 55-6 midway through the third quarter.
The Tigers’ special teams struck pay dirt again as Christian Adams took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a McKenzie touchdown to make the score 55-13.
With a comfortable lead, the Red Devils began to make deep substitutions on a defense that had limited the Tiger offense to six yards of total offense through three and a half quarters.
Schoener led a Maplesville offense that showed deep substitutions as well on a 80-yard touchdown drive capped off with a 26-yard touchdown run to make the score 62-13.
Schoener added another touchdown late in the fourth quarter after a Tigers touchdown drive to bring the score to its final of 69-20.
“They did a great job,” Maplesville Coach Brent Hubbert said. “They have done it all year; I just hope we keep doing it.”
Dunlap led the Red Devils’ ground game with 183 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries.
Schoener added 132 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
Spencer completed four passes in five attempts for 133 yards and a touchdown.
The Red Devils will hit the road for Round 3 of the Class 1A playoffs to take on the Notasulga Blue Devils next week.