Ellwood Christian’s football team was on top of the world following last week’s victory over county rival Keith, but Thursday night Autaugaville brought the Eagles back to Earth very quickly in a 25-0 shutout victory.

Autaugaville, also the Eagles, soared past Ellwood with a tremendous passing attack, an incredible defensive effort and a gameplan that neutralized the strengths of their opponent.

“We are a lot better than that. It’s disappointing but this is what I was most worried about,” Ellwood Christian head coach Mike Stokes said. “You come off a big win, how your team will respond? Tonight we didn’t respond. We didn’t at all. We got whooped.”

Ellwood had no answer for Autaugaville’s passing attack, with quarterback Lundon Maynard tearing their defense apart for 281 passing yards and four touchdowns. For Autaugaville’s first three touchdowns of the night, Maynard hit Stefan Palmer, who caught 49-yard, 12-yard and 32-yard touchdown passes to put Autaugaville up 18-0. Maynard’s final touchdown throw of the game went to Davonte Wells to finish the scoring with 22.5 seconds left in the third quarter.

Ellwood Christian never found a flow offensively, only totaling 106 offensive yards on the night. Quarterback Jalen Furlow, one week after scorching Keith’s defense, was kept out of the endzone thanks to a defensive scheme focused on slowing him down.

“We had a gameplan to come in and protect No. 13 (Jalen Furlow). He’s the best player in this area,” Autaugaville head coach Allen Brothers said. “I don’t know if they tried to trick us. Last week he was No. 14, but at the end of the day it is all about the kids. They did what we asked them to do. They stayed disciplined and we were able to contain him.”

Furlow finished the night with 91 yards rushing on 28 carries and four yards passing on three attempts.

Stokes was not happy with his team’s effort coming off of last week’s big victory.

“Some of our guys want it and some of us don’t and it showed tonight,” Stokes said. “Plus, being young they don’t understand how you finish a fight. They get behind and don’t understand that you have to keep fighting.”

The scoring started early for Autaugaville. With 9:10 left in the first quarter, Maynard found Palmer for a 49-yard touchdown to make the score 6-0. Maynard hooked up with Palmer again for his second score of the night with 9:35 left in the second quarter.

After falling behind 12-0 Ellwood had a chance to steal back the momentum late in the first half. Ellwood Christian partially blocked a punt and received the ball at the Autaugaville 35-yard line. After a roughing the passer call kept the drive alive, Ellwood’s offense — held to 4 total yards before the possession — pieced together a small drive and had a first and goal at the 10-yard line.

A rush by Michael Lewis on first down put Ellwood at the 2-yard line, but Autaugaville’s defense held from there. Two runs by Furlow and a carry by Demarcus Powell went for no gain, resulting in a turnover on downs.

Autaugaville took all the momentum into halftime and put the game away in the third quarter.

Maynard hit Palmer for a 32-yard score to make the score 18-0, before finishing the scoring with his toss to Wells with just a few ticks remaining on the clock in the third quarter.

Next week, Ellwood Christian will play at A. L. Johnson. Ellwood fell to 2-2 with the loss.