By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

An 0-2 start isn’t exactly what the Verbena Red Devils had hoped for to begin their 2013 football season.

After dropping games to Thorsby and Wadley, things were no easier for the Red Devils on Friday night as the 1-1 Notasulga Blue Devils came calling.

A first half plagued with turnovers put the Red Devils in an early hole they would never recover from as the Blue Devils of Notasulga would go on to a 60-27 win.

A Verbena fumble on the first play of the game set up a one-play, 28-yard touchdown run by Martavious Brown of Notasulga, putting the Devils in an early 6-0 hole.

Verbena answered the call on their second possession with Dorrian Parker breaking loose on a 63-yard touchdown run to put the Red Devils up one, 7-6.

Brown scored again on one play for the Blue Devils, going 72 yards down the sideline to put Verbena down again, 12-7, early in the first quarter.

Three first half turnovers by the Red Devils, and 156 first half yards on the ground by Brown, led to two more Notasulga scoring drives, and the Blue Devils would go to the half up 24-7.

The Red Devil defense would set up their offense with great field possession after stopping the Blue Devils on a fourth down attempt from from their own 28 with a turnover on downs at the Notasulga 39. Six plays later, Parker found the end zone on a 31-yard touchdown run to make the score 24-14 early in the third quarter.

A fourth down conversion for the Blue Devils from the Verbena 37 added six more points when quarterback Coreonte O’Neal connected with Aurick Cloud for a touchdown and a 32-14 Blue Devil lead.

The Red Devils answered right back on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Jared Mims to Christian Agee to make the score 32-20 to start the fourth quarter.

Along with missed tackles, the Notasulga offense proved to be a tough task to face for the Red Devils all night as they would go on to score on three of their next four possessions en route to the victory.

“We have got to learn to tackle,” said Verbena coach Mike Harris, “We are on the right track. The kids responded; we just aren’t doing a very good job of tackling.”

Parker led the way for Verbena on the ground with four attempts for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Jared Mims added 77 yards on 14 carries and also went 7-of-14 passing for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Christian Agee had three receptions for 89 yards and two touchdowns.