GUYS MILLS — An extra day of practice paid huge dividends for Maplewood.

Playing on Saturday instead of Friday, Maplewood coach Matt Crocker had an extra day to go over “more details” with his players and the Tigers responded with a hard-hitting 20-6 win over Reynolds in non-conference action.

The Tigers evened their record at 3-3, while the Raiders remained winless in six decisions.

Although admitting it was somewhat strange getting prepared for a Saturday game, Crocker was actually happy for the extra 24 hours:

“The extra day gave us an opportunity to go over the finer details on defense. We allowed 47 points to Northwestern last week, so we really focused on our defense this week in practice and the hard work paid off as we nearly had a shutout.”

Crocker also got another point across to his players — to get off to a strong start.

Opening the game with a 12-play, 73-yard drive, the Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead as tailback Jeremy Dunn scored on a one-yard run.

The key plays: quarterback Broc Baker’s two completions to halfback Nick Bancroft for 39 yards and Dunn’s six-yard run on fourth-and-three at Reynolds’ 35.

“We really stressed to the players that we needed to get off to a strong start,” said Crocker. “We wanted to open the game with a time-consuming drive ... and we did.”

Maplewood’s other two touchdowns were set up by Reynolds’ turnovers.

After Mark Kohnen’s fumble recovery on the Raiders’ 10, the Tigers’ Nick Bancroft went off right-tackle for a six-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter to give MHS a 14-6 lead.

On Reynolds’ first possession in the second half, the Raiders’ Allen Everson was stuffed at the line and lost the pigskin, recovered by MHS linebacker Jonathan Hollabaugh.

Setting up at RHS’s 32, Dunn — who rushed for a game-high 106 yards on 27 hauls — got the call on five of the Tigers’ six running plays and the finale was a three-yard touchdown run with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter.

Maplewood’s “D” did the rest.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Reynolds was knocking at the door — on Maplewood’s 35 — when the Tigers’ defensive back Justin Marvin derailed the Raiders’ scoring plans with an interception.