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Malden looking to knock off district foe Caruthersville in title game
*CORRECTION: This story was changed to reflect the Missouri state football scoring record.*
MALDEN -- Through his first four years as head coach at Malden, Joel Wyatt saw rival Caruthersville dominate the Class 2, District 1 landscape.
Not only have they held the district crown in every year of Wyatt's tenure, but the current defending champs have reeled off six in a row.
While many fans think this will be the year Malden breaks the Tigers' streak, the Green Wave are taking the same approach into Friday's title game that has worked for them all season.
"We're excited, but we're approaching it with an underdog mentality," Wyatt said. "I don't care that we beat them 47-0 in week two. That's a long time ago and we know they're not the same team.
"We're just keeping with the same philosophy we've had all year of a chip on our shoulder and a 'it's us against the world' mentality."
This year marks the second straight the two team's will be facing off for the title with the Tigers winning last year's matchup 60-18.
While Caruthersville was the favorite going into that game, the roles have been reversed this season as Malden comes in with an 11-0 record to the Tigers' 7-4 mark.
As impressive as the Green Wave's undefeated streak is, the way they've accomplished it might be better.
They're averaging a state-record 61.9 points-per-game. That includes three 70-plus point outings including their 76-8 regular season finale win against Dexter representing a season-high.
Along with it's per-game average, Malden's slightly behind pace to set the record for most points accumulated in a season. Their current total of 681 sits 202 points from the current state record of 883 set by Lamar last season. At their current scoring rate, Malden would hover around 804 points entering a potential semifinal game.
It was their 47-0 win against Caruthersville in their second game of the season that represents a season low, though their defense made sure that wasn't a problem.
As important as building early season momentum was, Malden's win against Caruthersville was a chance to break the spell the Tigers have had over the Green Wave in recent seasons.
"If we can take anything away from that meeting I'd say it's confidence in that we, at least for that week, got over the mystique that Caruthersville is unbeatable so to speak," Wyatt said. "Ever since I came here five years ago I think for the most part when we stepped on the field some of our kids were already defeated. It was just a mindset. Now our mindset has changed that we know we can beat them and we did that week two.
"With that being said, we know that they're not the same team. They've gotten so much better. Fugate has really been impressive and Faulkner has really improved throughout the year as well."
As Wyatt alluded too, Fugate is the key to Caruthersville's offense.
In his first year as the Tigers' feature back, the senior has rushed for 1,695 yards and 19 touchdowns. He's currently averaging 9.1 yards-per-carry and has went over 100 yards rushing in each of his team's last eight games.
There's no doubt Fugate will need another big game if Caruthersville wants to hang offensively with the Green Wave. He's coming off a season-high 308 yard rushing performance during their 49-26 semifinal win over East Prairie.
Fugate scored twice in the contest and added 49 yards receiving for 357 total yards.
"(Stopping Fugate) is definitely the main focus," Wyatt said. "But they run the quarterback iso with Peyton Faulker just enough to keep you honest and then they're going to sprinkle in a few carries here and there with Rodrick Jones as well. But most definitely Fugate is the main weapon there."
As likely to take off running as to throw, Faulker has racked up 650 yards and 11 touchdowns this season for a 6.4 yards-per-carry average. He's 47 of 113 through the air for 677 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions.
On the other side, Malden is coming off a 58-12 rout of Hayti in the semifinals where they combined for 462 yards of offense, including 382 on the ground.
Dremond Robinson carried 13 times for 210 yards and five touchdowns while Cortez Dobbins gained 60 yards and scored once on only four carries.
"Normally when you play them they're going to be a fast and physical defense," Wyatt said of the Tigers. "We felt like we controlled the line of scrimmage in week two. With a bunch of seniors up front that's kind of been our mentality all year long -- to hang our hats our offensive line."
After seeing some talented groups fall short of a district title in his first four seasons with the program, Wyatt hopes to send this years crop out with some hardware.
"When you have a group of seniors like this, 14 of them who have just put their heart and soul into this program, you really want to see them achieve that goal of being district champs." Wyatt said. "They've done everything we've asked as a coaching staff."