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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Maplesville High School stepped up in classification to take on 5A Holtville High School on Sept. 27 on the road, but was handled 35-7.

“At times we played good, but we got in our way a lot with drives where we got inside the 20 (yard line) but then went backwards,” Maplesville head coach Brad Abbott said. “They jumped on us 14-0, but after that we settled in the next two quarters and played pretty well on defense.”

Holtville built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter before Maplesville quarterback Pearce Yeargan found Davarian Clark for a 28-yard touchdown connection to trim the lead to 14-7. The home team added a rushing touchdown in the second quarter to take a 21-7 lead into halftime.

Maplesville had 153 yards of offense and struggled on third down going 1-for-11. Yeargan was 11-for-22 passing for 100 yards, but threw three interceptions. Clark caught a team-high six passes for 48 yards, and Aidan Abbott caught three for 30 yards.

Maplesville played the third quarter to a stalemate, but Holtville added two more rushing scores in the fourth quarter to punctuate the 35-7 win. Their defense was the best that the Red Devils have seen so far this season, Brad Abbott said, and the hurry-up offense Holtville runs kept things moving for a team that plays a number of players both ways.

“In the end, we took a lot of stuff that we could bring back here and show the guys on film,” Brad Abbott said. “We always try to get tested during the season, and hopefully we can learn from this to make us stronger for the second half of the season.”

The Red Devils’ defense was led by Ty Bailey with seven tackles, followed by Luke Gray and Von Woods both recording six tackles and Dee Elliot with five.

Maplesville (4-1) goes back to Class 1A in Region 4 on Oct. 4 for its next game taking on Autaugaville High School at home. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.