By Justin Fedich | The Selma Times-Journal

It’s tough to beat an opponent when the opposing running back runs for 315 yards and four touchdowns in a junior varsity game.

The Martin Bulldogs (1-3) were torched for 384 rushing yards in a 36-18 defeat to the Maplesville junior varsity Red Devils (3-0) Tuesday at Dallas County High School. Maplesville starting running back Ryan Morrow was unstoppable, but Martin’s Octavious Palmer added 119 yards rushing, 74 yards passing and two touchdowns to give Martin a chance to pull off the upset.

The Bulldogs fell into an early 16-0 hole, but managed to pull within reach in the second quarter. However, most of the first half was dominated by Maplesville.

Morrow took the handoff on all five plays of Maplesville’s first drive. He put the finishing touches on the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run at 4:21 in the first quarter. Morrow ran in the two-point conversion to give Maplesville an 8-0 lead.

“He’s a playmaker,” Maplesville coach Josh Abbott said of Morrow. “He gets his hands on the ball, he’s got a chance to make an explosive play anytime he touches it.”

The Bulldogs fumbled the ball away on the next drive off a high snap. Martin forced a turnover on downs on defense, but on Maplesville’s next drive, Morrow broke free for a 58-yard touchdown run with 2:43 left in the second quarter.

Maplesville took a 16-0 lead after Travis McKenzie ran in the two-point conversion.

On Martin’s next offensive play, Carl McGhee took a handoff, broke a few tackles and sprinted for a 67-yard touchdown to lower the deficit to 14-6. Martin recovered an onside kick and led a two-minute drive for another score. Palmer connected with Patrick Callens with four seconds left in the half to take a 16-12 score into halftime.

“I thought we improved,” Martin head coach Jeremy White said. “I saw a lot of good things, but we also saw a lot of things we could correct.”

The Red Devils opened the second half with a 5-play, 50-yard drive that capped by a Jackson Abbott 10-yard touchdown run.

After the Red Devils forced a turnover on downs, Morrow took Maplesville’s first play of the drive for a 77-yard touchdown run. Abbott added the two-point conversion to give the Red Devils a 30-12 lead at 2:56 in the third quarter.

On Martin’s next drive, Palmer connected with Jalyn Callens for an 18-yard pass that took the Bulldogs down to the 1-yard line. Palmer ran it in the following play to make the score 30-18 with 6:48 remaining. Morrow ran in his fourth touchdown of the game from 9 yards out with 2:50 left in the game.

“I was proud of the way my guys fought tonight. I really was. That’s a good football team over there,” White said.

Martin is at Clanton Tuesday at 5:30.