Malden rookie rewrites record book, but Tornados stunned in double OT loss, 42-40

Jayden McGuffie scored 6 TDs, runs for a whopping 342 yards, scores all Malden’s points, but Somerville outlasts Tornados

By Steve Freker

It is part of the opening line of a 155-year-old literary classic and it quite literally captured the essence of this past Friday night’s “instant classic.” “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…”

For Malden High football at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville – as Charles Dickens once wrote in “A Tale of Two Cities” – it was all that, indeed. On one hand, you had Malden High freshman running back Jayden McGuffie authoring the best and most prolific offensive performance in school history. The 5-10, 175 lbs. McGuffie was a one-man wrecking crew, setting four new, single-season offensive records that may never be broken: Touchdowns (6), points scored (40), rushing yards (342 on 18 carries) and total yards from scrimmage (414).

Cue in “the worst of times…” Despite McGuffie’s showstopping performance for Malden – which is more than an entire team, combined, puts out for offense in most high school games – the Tornados did not emerge victorious on this night. In a crushing loss, Malden saw host Somerville persevere until the end and capture its first Greater Boston League victory since 2013.

Down two touchdowns to Malden in the second half, Somerville rallied to first tie the game in regulation, then match Malden blow-for-blow in overtime. The host Highlanders then delivered the knockout punch by scoring a game-winning, 2-point conversion in double-overtime to clinch a 42-40 victory and end its 11-season league losing streak.

And so, Dickens was again on point in the last part of the opening sentence in, “…it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.” For Malden and Head Coach Witche Exilhomme, it was hard to believe, hard to comprehend and, nearly a week removed, still difficult to process.

“It is hard to explain the feeling after a game like that. The emotions are so high and then so low,” Coach Exilhomme said. “I have never seen such a dominating performance like the night Jayden [McGuffie] had, for any player, let alone a freshman.

“Then, to have the game end like that. We seemed to have the win right there for the taking, but we just could not put them [Somerville] away,” Coach Exilhomme said. “We needed one big stop on a couple of occasions during the regulation and then during overtime and the game would have been ours. We just didn’t get it.”

On this night, Malden had nearly all of the “bright light” highlights, while Somerville stuck to the “slow and steady wins the race” approach. Every time Malden would score and go ahead, the Highlanders would counter with some scoring of its own.

Of course, the “Jayden McGuffie Show” dominated the Tornado side of the story. McGuffie was simply phenomenal, scoring touchdowns on long yardage runs of 87 yards and 65 yards on Malden’s first two offensive plays, after Somerville had taken a first quarter lead of 8-0 on a 17-yard run by big, bruising 6-1, 220-lb. fullback Gavin Fucile (4 TDs, 167 yards rushing on 22 carries).

Malden took a 14-8 lead after McGuffie’s two long rushing scores. Somerville tied the game with a late scoring drive right before the end of the first half to make it 14-14. Malden went ahead when Aidan Brett hit – who else? – Jayden McGuffie with what turned out to be another long gainer, a 72-yard touchdown pass, about five minutes into the third quarter, followed by a 2-point conversion run by McGuffie, his 19th and 20th points of the game, for a 22-14 lead. With about 2 minutes left in the third quarter, after an 81-yard drive where he ripped off runs of 31 and 22 yards, McGuffie busted off another long scoring run, a 35-yard touchdown burst over the left end – his 4th TD of the evening – to make it 28-14, Malden.

Malden had a chance to roll up even more of a lead with some more McGuffie runs, followed by a 9-yard run by Earl Fevrier. At one first-and-goal from the Somerville 1-yard line, unfortunately, the handoff went awry and the ball was fumbled away and Somerville recovered at the Malden 4-yard line.

On this night, Somerville was far from done and rolled on with a 7-play, 96-yard scoring drive with the likes of Fucile and quarterback Sam De Souza operating the offense. Each Highlander standout scored another touchdown each, Fucile’s third TD coming with under a minute to go in regulation, followed by a 2-point conversion run to tie the game at 28-28.

Malden had seen a great opportunity to go ahead into the 30s at 35-20, had a pass to a wide-open receiver not gone right through the receiver’s hands.

“We had several great opportunities to score more points and put the game away, but we just did not take advantage,” Coach Exilhomme said.

Tied at 28-28, the game went to overtime, which consisted of the “10 Yard Fight” format, with each team getting a first-and-10 set from the 10-yard line. Malden scored on its first possession on a 5-yard TD run by Jayden McGuffie – his 5th touchdown of the night. McGuffie was stopped at the line of scrimmage by the Somerville defense, as Malden led, 34-28.

Somerville answered with a score to tie the game on its first try to re-tie the game at 34-34, but Malden held tough on the conversion try with Zach Johnson tackling De Souza behind the line of scrimmage, temporarily sending the Somerville quarterback out of the game,

Malden again took possession in the now double-OT period and, once again, McGuffie added more mileage to his school single-game record totals when he scored his unprecedented 6th touchdown of the game, on a 7-yard run. Malden led, 40-34, but Somerville again made Malden come up empty on the conversion try, and the Highlanders went on the attack.

Fucile was the man once again for his third touchdown of the night, on a 3-yard, making the score locked up at 40-40. This time, with De Souza banged up, Mateus Fernandes gave Somerville a totally new look by lining up in the Wildcat Formation, behind center. Fernandes took the snap and ran behind right tackle into the end zone for the game-winning 2-point conversion and the 42-40 victory.

“We just have to get back to work and put together a winning game plan for the next one,” Coach Exilhomme said of his now 1-1 Tornados (0-1 Greater Boston League).

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Malden back in action Saturday morning at Northeast, 10:30 a.m.

Malden plays a rare Saturday morning game when it travels to nearby Wakefield for a non-league game tomorrow, on the road at Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School, with a 10:30 a.m. kickoff.

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EXTRA POINTS: Surprisingly, with all those touchdowns scored (12 combined, 6 for each team) there were no zero PAT kick attempts. In the two overtime periods, PAT kicks are not allowed, only 2-point conversion tries… The only (somewhat) comparable offensive game to Jayden McGuffie’s we could come up with using quick (honestly, minimal) research is 217 yards rushing, 4 touchdowns and 374 all-purpose yards for former Tornado star Danley Exilhomme in the Malden 59-36, November 28, 2015, Thanksgiving win over Medford in Game #128. Danley is the younger brother of present Malden Head Coach Witche Exilhomme. We recall some other games through the years with players scoring 4 TDs also, but none scoring more than that. Certainly not 6 TDs! … After Saturday’s game, Malden will return to Macdonald Stadium next Thursday, October 3, to host Lynn Classical – another Greater Boston League game – at 6:00 p.m. It will be Malden’s Homecoming Game. Malden High’s Class of 2025 is hosting Homecoming Week next week, with a variety of fun and special theme days, culminating with the game on Thursday and the Homecoming Dance from 6:00-9:00 p.m. on Friday, October 4, at Malden High… Former Malden High School wide receiver and varsity Baseball and Basketball standout Mike Mathes has returned to the Malden Public Schools, this time as an Educational Support Professional (ESP) at the Linden S.T.E.A.M. Academy. Good luck in your new post, Mike!