en English
en Englishes Spanishpt Portuguesear Arabicht Haitian Creolezh-TW Chinese (Traditional)

, , Advocate

Your Local Online News Source for Over 3 Decades

‘GOLDEN’ NIGHT: Northeast Metro Tech’s Golden Knights football shines brighter than Malden’s Golden Tornados

QB Beede (3 TDs), De Oliveira (10 tackles) lead way for visiting NE in big win, 42-14

 

By Steve Freker

 

  Malden fans who may have experienced some of that old-time déjà vu did so for good reason last Thursday night. Seems that the visiting Northeast Metro Tech Golden Knights were up to their old tricks, basically replaying what they did the last time these two teams met — almost exactly one year ago — to the day.

First possession? A quick score by the visiting Golden Knights.

Onside kick, recovered by Northeast. Run, run, long pass, then a finishing run for another quick score.

Six plays and less than three minutes off the clock, it was already 14-0 before most of the fans from either side of the fence at Malden’s Macdonald Stadium had settled into the stands. This was the same script as the 2024 game played in Wakefield at the Northeast home field, and as the night wore on, it turned out to be the same result: a Knights victory. The win kept Northeast on a bona fide, early-season roll: three W’s in a row and a 3-1 record out of the gate.

Northeast now has a week off, using the “bye” this weekend to prepare for another GBL non-league opponent, hosting Medford on Saturday, October 11, at 10:30 a.m. Malden fell to 1-2 with the loss (1-0 Greater Boston League) and will try and get back on track with a rare Saturday night game on the road against Lynn Classical tomorrow evening, October 4 (5:00 p.m.).

This one turned out to be a pounding, 42-14 win where Northeast never looked back, scoring in every quarter in a balanced attack. On the defensive side, the Knights roped off Malden to just one score in the first half, running out to a 28-6 lead and never letting the home team get much closer. Knights linebacker Lucas DeOliveira led the Northeast “D” on this night; number 24 was all over the field, making 10 tackles, assisting on four others, registering two sacks and putting plenty of pressure on the Malden quarterback all night.

Northeast, on its three-game winning roll, has now outscored its opponents 60-21 — nine touchdowns to three. On Thursday night, quarterback Ryan Beede had a big night, scoring three touchdowns, including one in each of the first three quarters. Beede also had his best passing night of the season, catching Malden off guard with the Knights’ “run first” offense, completing 5-of-6 attempts for 67 yards. Northeast’s Isaiah Robles was a force offensively as well, rushing for 103 yards on just 11 carries and two touchdowns. Northeast placekicker Jake Conners was a perfect 6-for-6 on PAT boots, a stellar night on an evening where not much of Head Coach Don Heres’ offensive calls did not find success.

Northeast scored on a short field after getting the ball at the Malden 45-yard line and finishing off a four-play drive with a three-yard TD plunge by Beede and a Conners kick for a 7-0 lead. The Knights then recovered an onsides kick and jumpstarted another short field drive, this one ending with a 19-yard TD run and a 14-0 lead with just under 8 minutes left in the first quarter. Malden did answer when star sophomore runner Jayden McGuffie busted free down the left sideline for a 51-yard touchdown run, his 5th TD of the season and a 14-6 score.

Northeast did not slow down, scoring twice more in the second quarter on two long, time-eating drives ending in 1-yard TDs by Robles and then Beede again for a 28-6 lead. The Knights stretched the lead out to 42-6 in the fourth quarter before Malden was able to answer again when senior captain and quarterback Billy Gavin connected with fellow senior captain Manny Perez with a 36-yard TD pass with 3:03 left to play.

***

TORNADO WARNINGS: After the game Malden Head Coach Witche Exilhomme said his team had no time to dwell on this result as it faced a steady diet of Greater Boston League games ahead — three straight league matchups, starting with the road to Lynn’s Manning Field on Saturday. “We still intend to be heard from in this league. We play league games the next three weeks and we know we have to be much better than what we have shown,” said the fifth-year Malden Head Coach… Saturday’s game will be Malden’s second visit to Manning Field this season; a 27-14 loss two weeks ago in the season opener being the other road trip… After Saturday’s game, Malden has a short week, hosting Lynn English on Thursday, October 9, and then faces off against Chelsea at home on Thursday, October 16. Both are 6:00 p.m. starts…

Malden resident Jovan Walcott II was a starting receiver and Northeast QB Ryan Beede’s favorite target on Thursday with two receptions for 27 yards. He is the son of Jovan Walcott, a former two-sport (football, basketball) standout for Malden High in the early 1990s. The elder Walcott is now a staff member at Malden High School and is also known as a top high school and college basketball referee in the region… Malden High sophomore running back Jayden McGuffie, who totaled 136 yards on 18 carries on Thursday, is already close to halfway to another 1,000-yard rushing season with 496 yards in three games and five touchdowns. Last year as a freshman, McGuffie ran for 1,344 yards and 15 TDs, both school records for a 9th-grader, uncharted territory for a player in that grade of school for Malden High.

***

NORTHEAST 42, MALDEN 14

Northeast        14        14        7          7–42

Malden                         6         0        0          8–14

First quarter

Northeast—Ryan Beede 3-yard run (Jake Conners kick)

Northeast—Niko Fronduto 19-yard run (Conners kick)

Malden—Jayden McGuffie 51-yard run (rush failed)

Second quarter

Northeast—Isaiah Robles 1-yard run (Conners kick)

Northeast—Beede 1-yard run (Conners kick)

Third quarter

Northeast—Beede 11-yard run (Conners kick)

Fourth quarter

Northeast—Isaiah Robles 62-yard run (Conners kick)

Malden—Manny Perez 36-yard pass from Billy Gavin (McGuffie run)

***

MALDEN FOOTBALL

2025 SCHEDULE

Friday, 9/12—Lynn Tech 27, MALDEN 14

Thurs., 9/18—MALDEN 14, Somerville 12

Thurs., 9/25—Northeast 42, MALDEN 14

Sat., 10/4—MALDEN at Lynn Classical, 5 p.m.

Thurs., 10/9—MALDEN v. Lynn English, 6 p.m.

Thurs., 10/16—MALDEN v. Chelsea, 6 p.m.

Fri., 10/24—MALDEN at Revere, 6 p.m.

Thurs., 10/30—MALDEN v. Whittier, 6 p.m.

Week of 11/7—Playoff/Consolation

Week of 11/4—Playoff/Consolation

Thurs., 11/27—MALDEN at Medford, 10 a.m.

138th Thanksgiving Day Classic

Contact Advocate Newspapers