English
Spanish
Portuguese
Arabic
Haitian Creole
Chinese (Traditional)
Sophomore star scores all the points, sets Turkey Day record with 267 yards; Dante Bell is Defensive MVP
By Steve Freker
It was a triumphant Thanksgiving Day for Malden High Football and yes, we’ll say it — THE BEST running back in Golden Tornado history, sophomore Jayden McGuffie — in a 20-8 holiday victory over Medford. McGuffie feasted on the Mustang defense for a Turkey Day record 267 yards and 3 TDs, becoming the first player in school history ever to surpass 2,000 yards rushing (2,006) in a single season! In addition to the single-season rushing record, McGuffie also obliterated the Malden High season marks for touchdowns, 2-point conversions and total scoring, with 27 TDs, 17 conversions and 196 total points.
Every great story seems to have a humble beginning, an intriguing “middle” and a fantastic finish. Toss out the understated start, but leave the rest when you want to know the tale of Malden’s foray into Medford on Thanksgiving morning. On a day featuring pitch-perfect weather for football, Malden got the best opening play you could ask for in any game — a touchdown!
On Malden’s very first play of the game, sophomore captain McGuffie lined up in the “Wildcat” single-back formation at the Tornado 34-yard line, took the first snap, busted out around left end and never looked back. Sixty-six yards and just 20 seconds into the game, later, the Bryant Street Bomber was in the end zone and his team led, 6-0. He scored on the 2-point conversion play as well for an 8-0 lead for the visitors just 25 seconds into the game.
Medford would rally back to tie the game at 8-8 in the second quarter on a three-yard run by Demi Georges — capping a 10-play, 60-yard drive, for an 8-8 halftime tie. In between the touchdowns was a lot of rivalry ruckus, with both teams showing they had come to play, and play for keeps. McGuffie was elusive at times, but the Mustangs were able to keep him in check on other occasions. Both teams were going “all in” all the time in this game, with Malden Head Coach Witche Exilhomme for the visitors and Medford football boss John Curley for the Mustangs.
Leading 8-0 and facing a 4th down and 4 yards to go from their own 35-yard line with 2:30 to go in the first period, Coach Exilhomme went all Detroit Lions/Dan Campbell when he eschewed a punt and called for — what else? — another McGuffie run. Medford stopped it for a gain of 2, short by a couple of yards. Getting the ball back on downs as the quarter turned into the second, Medford was in great shape with a 1st down and 10 from the Malden 37-yard line. Not for long.
On first down, Medford QB Travers Moodie dropped back to pass and spotted an open receiver on the left side, as it would do all day; however, the Malden defense answered the call to silence the Mustang passing attack. Freshman linebacker Arthur Sewell — a starter since Game 3 of this season — got a bead on Moodie’s pass to his left tight end and tipped the ball in the air as it arrived at its target. After the ball squirted in the air, junior cornerback Dante Bell leaped and corralled the loose ball for his first career interception, a huge play at the time, to shut down another Medford drive.
The Mustangs kept coming hard, making a Malden offensive drive stall and die on the Mustang 22-yard line when the Tornados lost a fumble. Medford proceeded to go “All-Demi” the rest of the half, launching a 12-play, 73-yard drive that featured 9 carries by Georges for all of those 73 yards gained, the last 3 yards being a Mustang touchdown with less than 2 minutes to play in the half. Georges‚ a diminutive 5-5, 130 pounder, plays the game like he was a Hummer SUV, running past and, at times, over and through Malden defenders. He added up nearly 200 yards on the ground himself all told, some 179 yards on 23 carries.
Deadlocked at 8-8 and with Malden’s McGuffie having a relatively quiet second quarter, with just 22 yards on 6 carries, Medford might have thought it could grab some quick momentum and perhaps, even the lead. But to that, Malden said, “Not today, Mustangs!” In the second half, it was all Malden for the rest of the game, as all the key plays and all roads led back to McGuffie, who was a revelation once again for the final two quarters.
Two plays into the third quarter, the Tornados got another lightning-strike TD from McGuffie, this time an 87-yard streak up the right sideline — in front of the Medford bench — for a 14-8 lead. Then it was more Malden defense to help seal the deal. The defensive secondary duo of junior Dante Bell, who recorded an interception and two pass deflections in the first quarter, and senior cornerback Jemiah Charles basically shut down the Mustang passing attack by themselves. Charles played shutdown defense all game on several different intended target receivers. For the game, Medford completed just 2 passes for 21 yards, going 2-for-15 on the morning in the air.
On the Malden side of the air attack, senior Tornado QB and captain Billy Gavin were far more efficient — and economical. Gavin completed seven of 10 pass attempts for 91 yards, hitting four different receivers: two to sophomore receiver Nathan Schonton and one each to McGuffie and senior tight end/fullback Colin Okoth. For Okoth, a 6-3, 260 senior playing his first year of any type of football, it was the first and only pass reception of his career.
The two biggest completions were to senior captain and split end Manny Perez. There was no catch bigger than the 49-yard bomb he caught falling forward to the Medford 8-yard line from Gavin on the left side of the field with 4:59 left to play. That catch set up a first-and-goal for Malden, and three plays later McGuffie was back in the end zone for the third time, and Malden led 20-8 with just over four minutes left on the game clock.
Medford did not lie down, returning the kick back past midfield to the Malden 46-yard line. Some more runs by Georges and a couple of scrambles by Moodie gave Medford a first and goal from the Malden 9-yard line with 1:51 left to play, but the drive stalled, as three straight pass attempts were defensed and defused by Bell and Charles, and Malden got the ball back on downs with 1:08 to play. Malden ran out the clock and then erupted into jubilation for the well-earned Thanksgiving Day win — snapping the Mustangs’ two-year streak.
THANKSGIVING DAY
GAME #138 BOX SCORE
Malden 20, Medford 8
Malden 8 0 6 6 — 20
Medford 0 8 0 0 — 8
First quarter
Malden — Jayden McGuffie 60-yard run
Second quarter
Medford — Demi Georges 3-yard run
Third quarter
Malden — Jayden McGuffie 87-yard run (rush failed)
Fourth quarter
Malden — Jayden McGuffie 1-yard run (rush failed)
Attendance — 1,674
