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Stevenson tops 5,000 as Mapletown stays unbeaten

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JEFFERSON – Landan Stevenson and the Mapletown Maples played spoiler on the Jefferson-Morgan homecoming, beating the Rockets 49-12 Friday night in a Class A Tri-County South Conference game at Parker Field.

“Every time two Greene County schools get to play each other, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Mapletown head coach George Messich said. “It’s always a good game and teams always play their best against each other.”

Stevenson led the way for Mapletown (4-0, 7-0), with 314 rushing yards and four touchdowns on a season-high 35 carries. In total, the Maples had 470 rushing yards, with Stevenson and AJ Vanata with most of the yardage. Mapletown finished with 515 yards total offense.

Stevenson scored on runs of three, 34, six and eight yards. Vanata had TD runs of eight and 12 yards and quarterback Brody Evans had one scoring one.

“I just think that’s incredible,” Messich said. “Our running backs run really hard, and I am so pleased with our offensive line.”

Mapletown dominated Jefferson-Morgan (2-2, 4-3) in the first half. After leading 7-6 heading into the second quarter, the Maples scored 24 points on three touchdowns and three converted two-point attempts.

Stevenson, who now has 5,084 career yards, had a full game’s worth of stats in just the first half: 20 carries, 192 yards and three touchdowns. He also made an extra point attempt and converted a two-point conversion to give Mapletown a 31-6 lead at halftime.

The second half was much like the first. The maples steadily pulled away and Mapletown forced two turnovers-on-downs by Jefferson-Morgan in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

“They outplayed us,” Jefferson-Morgan first-year head coach Shane Ziats said. “They were better than us on those downs.”

Messich had some high praise for his team after this game and wanted to point out his coaching staff and what it did.

“My assistant coaches don’t get enough credit,” Messich said. “My staff is just incredible. I wouldn’t be afraid to take this staff than any 5A, 6A or Division III college.”

Mapletown faces Bentworth next week followed by Monessen and West Greene.

Jefferson-Morgan is at Monessen next weekend before returning home to play West Greene.

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