A.L. Johnson suffers 63-0 setback at hands of Maplesville

MAPLESVILLE – Perennial 1A power Maplesville handed A.L. Johnson’s Eagles a 63-0 setback Friday night, and now head coach Johnny Ford’s ALJ squad must win against Ellwood Christian Friday night to avoid a No. 4 seed in the Class 1A playoffs, which begins in three weeks.

“There’s not much to say (about the loss to Maplesville),” Ford said. “We had six players that did not make the trip due to disciplinary issues, and we are just in a slump. We’re not playing well right now.”

Ford said he plans to “get back to the fundamentals, especially on the offensive line,” in preparation for Ellwood. “We had to juggle some people around because we were short-handed tonight, so we will get back to the basics and get some things ironed out in practice this week.”

ALJ fell to 5-3 with the loss, including a 3-2 region record. After hosting Ellwood Christian next week, A.L. Johnson closes out the season hosting Greene County Oct. 31.