STEWART GWIN/THE DEMOPOLIS TIMES

As with many things in the world, the Linden High School Patriots seem to work better when warmed-up. Last night was no exception, but the warm-up came a little too late for the Patriots as they fell 34-14 to the Red Devils of Maplesville.

When the Patriots took the field for action at home last night against the Devils, many in the stadium looked forward a highly competitive ballgame; however, what was to follow left some in shock and others in disbelief.

The Devils took the first kickoff of the game and seemed to have a plan in mind. Only two minutes into the first quarter, Devils made their first mark on the board.

When Linden took their first possession of the night, they came away scoreless and turned the ball over on their own 45 yard-line.

Maplesville took advantage of the field position and used their running game to find the end zone on a quarterback sneak by senior Marcus Wilson.

After Linden&8217;s next possession, which was fruitless, the Devils&8217; Nick Andrews found the end zone once again with 8:01 remaining in the first half. The extra point failed and the score remained 20-0.

At the half, Maplesville held the advantage at 20-0.

To start the third period of play, the Patriots took the kickoff from their own 20-yard line. Although they threatened as they moved into Red Devil territory, the Patriots came away with nothing and turned the ball over on downs at their own 33-yard line.

Both teams came away without scoring in the third quarter.

With 11:18 left in the fourth, Linden&8217;s Maurice Tate found the goal line for the first time on the night, and for a brief moment, the Patriots looked as though they were determined to come back.

The Devils were quick to answer with a touchdown and two-point conversion, making the score 28-6. Only 18 seconds later, with seven minutes on the clock, Linden responded as Sean Richardson took a 61-yard pass from the hands of Maplesville&8217;s Marvin Morton into the end zone.

Despite conscious efforts, Linden was through scoring for the night and Maplesville took the victory as they scored once again with only 1:15 remaining in the game.

Leading the Patriots in offense, Tate touched the ball 18 times for a total of 118 yards. Richardson led the receivers with two touchdowns and 108 yards in the game. Linden had a total of 283 yards of offense on the night.

Maplesville will head to Sweet Water next Friday night to battle it out with the Bulldogs. Brent Hubbert, the Devils&8217; head coach told his team: