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Xavier Blaise returns interception a school record 107 yards for TD; Malden Boys Soccer notches win and tie just before season’s end
By Steve Freker
It’s been a longer road than usual for Malden High Football this season. Senior defensive back Xavier Blaise took that theme to an extreme on Friday night, October 18.
Blaise intercepted a Chelsea Red Devils pass deep in the Malden end zone and did not even hesitate. The Tornado senior turned on the burners and blasted out of the end zone and took a sharp beeline toward the left sideline. He juked one defender at about the 25-yard line and after that, it was all green. Blaise raced all the way to the opposite end zone for six points and a new Malden High School record, with a 107-yard “Pick Six.” Blaise’s big return broke a 39-yard Malden High record set in 1975 by senior captain Anthony Jesi, who ran an interception back for a touchdown 102 yards, also against Chelsea, ironically, in a 22-7 Malden win.
The touchdown was the first of two for Blaise, who also caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Aidan Brett just before halftime of an eventual 47-12 win over Chelsea at the Red Devils’ stadium on Friday night.
The win was Malden’s second of the season (2-4 overall, 1-3 Greater Boston League) and first in the GBL this season. Malden was back in action October 23 at home, falling to Revere, 24-14, to drop to 2-5 overall, 1-4 GBL.
Blaise and teammate Jayden McGuffie were the top performers of the night in the win over Chelsea for Malden. McGuffie, who leads Malden in every offensive category, added two long touchdowns to his season total, on runs of 78 and 65 yards. Sophomore receiver Manny Perez had three catches for 47 yards in the first quarter to spark Malden. McGuffie, who has 8 TDs on the season – tops in the GBL – finished with a whopping 233 yards rushing on just 12 carries (and the two TDs). He is closing in on becoming the first-ever 1,000-yard rusher as a freshman in Malden High history.
Senior Malden captain Kevin Exilhomme also had an impressive night with five catches for 89 yards and two TDs. Malden senior split end Johnson Huynh had a 24-yard TD catch, his first offensive TD of the year, to go along with two special teams scores.
Malden Head Coach Witche Exilhomme was pleased with the result and the overall performance of the Tornado team. “When we come to play, that leads to good results. We got some excellent individual performances from ‘X’ [Blaise], Jayden [McGuffie] and Kervenson [“Kevin” Exilhomme] and their teammates worked to set them up for all their scores,” the fourth-year Malden Head Coach said.
Coach Exilhomme pointed to the play of Daniel Da Silva and senior captain Earl Fevrier as keys to the Malden defense. Senior two-way center and defensive tackle Isaac Pineda also had a steady game for Malden.
“Hopefully this team effort will continue this week and carry us into Thanksgiving Day,” Coach Exilhomme added
After the loss to Revere on Thursday, October 23, Malden has a “bye” week this week (Week Eight), with no game November 1-3 weekend. Malden will then have two non-playoff games on the weekends of November 8-9 and 15-16, with the season finale on Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, November 28.
Malden Boys Soccer earns a win and tie to close out the 2024 season
Sophomore Renato Serrao scored his first career goal on Saturday – and it was a big one – in a 1-1 tie with visiting Methuen at Macdonald Stadium. Senior goaltender Thomas Tierney also excelled with nine saves for the Tornados. Sophomore Abdul Mouakaff also played well for Malden, against a solid Methuen team which went to 8-4-5 with the tie and had beaten Malden, 5-0, just nine days earlier.
On Monday, in a non-league match with Gloucester, freshman Ronald Fernandes and junior Yasser Belatretche scored goals to lead Malden to its first victory of the season, 2-1.
