New-look Malden dominates NMCC

Saturday, August 20, 2016

MALDEN -- It only took a few plays for Malden's newest wave of starters to click as the Green Wave returned to dominating form on a soggy Friday night at The Swamp.

First-year quarterback Mason Brown ran for three touchdowns and handed off four more while Tray Stevenson had a career night rushing in a 66-12 win over New Madrid Central.

Malden, the Class 2 runner up and ninth-ranked team in the Class 2 media poll, also stopped the Eagles on fourth down inside their own 30 three times in the first half, blocked a punt and returned a punt to put the game out of reach by halftime.

"We were three-dimensional tonight," seventh-year Malden coach Joel Wyatt said. "These aren't new positions for these guys, it's just that they haven't started in them, they haven't been in the spotlight yet."

The offense, which returned seven starters but lost four All-State players, picked up from where the last several seasons have left off.

In the Green Wave's final four wins last season, they scored 42 or more points in three of those games. They had 541 all-purpose yards by halftime in the season opener and finished with 642.

Brown, a junior, proved he could keep the high-octane offense rolling rather quickly, punching in the first touchdown of the game three plays in on a quarterback keeper from 34 yards out for an 8-0 advantage.

"It was real good to get that first one off my shoulders, just felt real good overall," said Brown, who ran for 122 yards on seven carries and and completed 1-of 2-passes for 32 yards.

Central (0-1), meanwhile, managed 238 yards by halftime but never found the necessary momentum.

"We played probably the toughest opponent right there. They're a solid team from top to bottom," first-year Central coach Tyler Fullhart said. "You do this to compete against the best and we couldn't compete with it as much as we would've liked."

After a fumble on their second drive, the Green Wave stopped the Eagles from getting past midfield on a fourth-and-2 pass that fell short, and went back to the ground attack.

The Green Wave got the ball at their own 28-yardline with 8 minutes, 57 seconds left in the first quarter, and 10 seconds later Stevenson was finishing off a 72-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 16-0.

"It's great to be out here starting, leading these guys around and scoring," said Stevenson, who rushed for a career-high 170 yards on seven carries.

Malden's defense made another key stop deep in Central territory less than two minutes later to set up Cordell Kilgore's 55-yard punt return for a touchdown. The junior wide receiver and return man caught the ball at his own 45, juked a defender and bolted down the left sideline untouched for a commanding 24-0 advantage at the 7-minute mark.

"Cordell was a weapon returning the ball," Wyatt said. "We know what he can do catching the ball out wide, but when he was back there tonight, he was popping it into another gear."

Central punted once more before the end of the opening quarter. Their fourth punt of the game set up Stevenson's second touchdown of the game to make it 30-0 with 2:33 left in the first.

Javarcus Word helped himself with a 60-yard return on the ensuing kickoff and trotted in for a 25-yard score one play later to cut it to 30-6.

Malden ran out the final two minutes of the first. Brown capped the drive with an 11-yard touchdown as the clock read 2.9 seconds.

A sack by Malden junior Dee Triplett four plays into the second ended yet another drive for Central and set up the Green Wave at the Eagles' 31-yardline.

Brown needed just two carries to punch it in, including a 17-yard run to make it 46-6.

After another Central punt, senior Jamilyn Criglar followed the theme of the night with a 65-yard run eight minutes before halftime. It was his second and final carry of the night.

Central went three-and-out yet again and lined up to punt for the sixth time with 7:07 to go in the half.

After partially breaking through Central's punt coverage line three times earlier, Dee Triplett and Jackson Wilson teamed up to demolish it. Triplett got a good push and provided the block with a deflection that sent the ball just a few yards in front of Wilson's feet. The 6-foot, 240-pound junior picked up the ball and sprinted it to the house for a 20-yard touchdown.

"We've been drilling that quick punt that they do all week in practice. Right place, right time," said Wilson, who also forced a fumble and recovered it in the second half, and finished with five tackles.

Before the second quarter was over, Central returned another long kick when Word brought the ball 40 yards to midfield. Nine plays later quarterback Brock Blakey hit Darrion Hill on a 14-yard touchdown pass.

"We missed a lot of things early. We overshot some balls, we missed some passes and routes were not run right," Fullhart said. "It's little things like that that can lead to loss of momentum, but we also had time where we overcame a little adversity."

But before halftime, Stevenson answered with his final touchdown in the final two minutes of the half on a 28-yard run to set Malden's final point total.

Malden had a running clock for the remainder of the game and played it's second unit and junior varsity squad the rest of the way, as it gave up an 80-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Keene.

Malden travels to Caruthersville on Friday. The Green Wave have won the last four meetings.

"It's going to be a dogfight like it always is," Wyatt said.

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