The Maples look to bounce back against a County rival on Friday after non-conference struggles.

The Mapletown Maples (1-2) will travel to Parker field Friday, Sept. 13, to play the Jefferson Morgan Rockets (3-0) to start conference play. Mapletown goes into Jefferson on a two-game losing streak, dropping their first game to Frazier, 36-0, then Chartiers-Houston, 47-12. 

“They’re going to be a tough team to beat,” said George Messich, who serves as Mapletown’s head coach. “They have a really good group of boys, which kind of reminds me of our team in 2022.” 

For Mapletown, they face a Jefferson team which has been able to score a combined 118 points in their first three games. 

“We’re going to need to be able to stop both the run game and the passing game,” Messich said. “[Houston] Guesman can run the ball too if he needs to, so we need to be prepared.” 

In Mapletown’s last game, they went into the half against Chartiers Houston down 25-12 after a late score by the Buccaneers. 

“I think we should’ve been winning 12-6 at halftime,”  Messich said. “The last touchdown we had the ball carrier wrapped up in the backfield by two tacklers, but he broke out.” 

As Messich continued on when discussing the second half, it was all Chartiers Houston. 

“We didn’t play real well in the second half and you gotta give Chartiers Houston credit. They played really well,” Messich said. 

Jefferson on the other hand comes in all night with the best start to a season since 2012, with a record of 3-0. 

“It’s good to be the favorite but it’s just another game on the schedule, we need to go out and do what we are supposed to,” said Shane Ziats, Jefferson’s head football coach. 

It’s been strong offensive showings every game so far for Jefferson, with the lowest scoring game  still having them being able to put up 34 points.

“We have talent with our quarterback, running back and all three receivers and with our coaching we were just able to get everyone involved,” said Caleb Gallagher, assistant offensive coordinator. 

Although Jefferson looks to be the favorite, the Rockets have  defeated the Maples in three of their last five matchups. 

“It’s just the next game mentality for us, but it’s these players and they have really bought in to what we’re trying to do with them as a team and they’re taking us in the right direction,” Ziats said. 

The game will be played at Kennedy field on Friday night with kickoff set for 7 pm.