Big fourth quarter lifts Malden over Portageville

sports@standard-democrat.com

MALDEN -- Holding a 5-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter against Malden on Friday, the Portageville Bulldogs looked set to open up SEMO Conference South play with a win.

Plagued by missed tackles and turnovers in the fourth quarter, however, the Bulldogs saw 18-unanswered points give the Green Wave a 32-19 come-from-behind win.

"I don't mean to take anything away from Malden, but when you don't wrap up and tackle you make a lot of people that's pretty good a lot better," Portageville head coach Jeff Bullock said. "They're a good team and they'll win some games, but we didn't do anything to help ourselves. You have to wrap up and tackle."

Thanks to a missed point-after late in the first half, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing, 14-13, heading into the locker room. That changed midway through the third quarter when Portageville took over on Malden's 43-yard line after a fumble.

On the first play from scrimmage, Portageville quarterback Jon Garrett Kellams hit his favorite target, Ben Story, for a 43-yard touchdown to give their team its first lead of the night, 19-14. It was the second time the duo hooked up for a score with Story finishing the night with 118 receiving yards on five catches.

"We thought we're getting ready to put them away and put it on the ground out here midfield when we had a drive going," Malden head coach Joel Wyatt said. "It's just frustrating to let them hang around because of our turnovers, but again you have to give credit to Portageville."

The Bulldogs' lead held strong until the fourth quarter, but it wasn't long until Malden once again took control.

After taking over on their own 40-yard line following a Bulldog punt, the Green Wave marched down the field before Dremond Robinson punched in the go-ahead score with 11:30 to play.

A Portageville fumble on their next drive gave Malden the ball back on the Bulldogs' 28-yard line and quarterback Chapen Riley connected with Jeremy Jones from 11 yards to put their team up 26-19.

"We set people up," Bullock said of his team's turnovers. "Some of our turnovers were from just playing hard. We were trying to get extra yards and it just came out. It was one of them things."

Portageville stayed within a possession of the Green Wave late into the fourth, but with four minutes to play an interception by Jones set up one final Malden score. Robsinon capped the ensuing drive on a one-yard run to give Malden a commanding 32-19 lead with 3:25 remaining.

His two, fourth quarter touchdowns capped a three-score game for Robinson, who handled the ball 29 times for 167 yards on the ground. He averaged 5.8 yards-per-carry and easily led a rushing attack that gained 235 total yards on the ground.

"He's that kid you root for because he's 165 pounds of steel," Wyatt said of Robinson. "He's going to give you everything he's got. He's the same way in practice and in the weight room.

"He's a two-way player and his stamina is incredible to carry the ball that many times and then he's our mike linebacker. I'm really proud of him."

Facing a roster thin on reserves, Bullock admitted stamina played a role in the Bulldogs' rough fourth quarter. After putting 128 yards on the ground in the first half, Portageville's yardage was in the negative for the final two quarters.

"It's tough when you're playing 14 or 15 kids and they're not coming off the field much," Bullock said. "When teams are playing with 23 or 24 kids and you're not able to really sub because you have some younger kids who aren't really ready to play it just makes it hard on you.

"We spend a lot of energy and have to scrap every play. Everybody we play is going to be bigger than us and we exert a lot of energy trying to make plays. At times the kids just wear, but I wouldn't trade them."

Portageville 7 6 6 0 - 19

Malden 7 7 0 18 - 31

First Quarter

M -- Dremond Robinson 1 run (kick good), 6:33

P -- Jon Garrett Kellams 11 pass to Ben Story (kick good), 1:44

Second Quarter

M -- Chapen Riley 25 pass to Jeremy Jones (kick good), 11:44

P -- Jon Garrett Kellams 1 run (kick missed), 3:51

Third Quarter

P -- Jon Garrett Kellams 43 pass to Ben Story (pass bad), 7:14

Fourth Quarter

M -- Dremond Robinson 4 run (kick missed), 11:30

M -- Chapen Riley 11 pass to Jeremy Jones (kick missed), 8:20

M -- Dremond Robinson 1 run (kick missed), 3:25

P M

Total Yards 232 312

Rushes-yards 33-116 47-235

Passing yards 116 77

Comp.-Att.-Int. 6-17-3 6-13-1

Rushing -- Portageville, Carlos McGee 13-56, Daniel McCray 14-52, Landon Deslisle 4-4, Jon Garrett Kellams 2-4; Malden, Dremond Robinson 29-167, Chapen Riley 5-4, Gunner Jones 8-53, Nick Thompson 2-4, Jeremy Jones 3-7.

Passing -- Portageville, Jon Garrett Kellams 6-17-3 116; Malden, Chapen Riley 6-13-1 77.

Receiving -- Portageville, Ben Story 5-118, Caleb Gooch 1-(-2); Malden, Jeremy Jones 3-42, Edwin Hale 2-26, Nick Thompson 1-9.