MAPLETOWN – For the first time in school history, Mapletown has won a WPIAL football playoff game. The Maples defeated Leechburg 41-28 Friday night in Mapletown. 

“That was one of our goals,” Mapletown head coach George Messich said. “There were four goals: to win the conference, go undefeated, have a home playoff game, and our fourth goal was to win a playoff game. We decided that in August.”

A big part of Mapletown’s win was three turnovers by Leechburg early in the game that allowed Mapletown to score 21 points before Leechburg responded. Mapletown held onto the lead all game despite Leechburg’s efforts at a comeback. 

“We gave up too many plays in the beginning of the game,” Leechburg head coach Randy Walters said. “We can’t make mistakes like that in playoff football. [Mapletown is] a good football team.”

Landan Stevenson led the Maples to victory with 27 carries for 297 yards and five touchdowns of five, 10, eight, seven, and one yard, respectively. He became the school all-time rushing leader with 5,979 yards, passing Dylan Rush, who had 5,762.

“[Stevenson] is just incredible,” Messich said. “He cuts. He runs fast. He’ll put his head and shoulders down and run you over. He just does it all.”

Leechburg turned to passing the ball after struggling on the ground. Sophomore quarterback Jayden Floyd had 11 completions on 17 attempts for 180 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. 

“[Floyd] didn’t have his best night, but the kid’s tough as nails,” Walters said. “He hung in there. He kept making plays. We got some good things coming down the road.”

The Blue Devils special teams made an impact with an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown by Braylan Lovelace in the third and a recovered onside kick in the fourth to keep them in the game in the second half. It ended up not being enough, unfortunately.

“We had some kids make some plays,” Walters said. “We just made too many mistakes in the beginning.”

Messich thanked a lot of people after the game, including his assistant coaches and the Mapletown community. 

“My assistant coaches did a great job,” Messich said. “And I just want to thank our community. They have backed us like you can’t believe. The entire community is on our side, and I just love the support they’ve given us.”

Mapletown advances to the next round of the playoffs to face off against South Side a week from now. Leechburg will focus on next season and build on what they already have.