Malvern blows past Miners, 35-7
It was senior night at Claude Mann Stadium-David Alpe Field Friday and the Malvern Leopards didn’t disappoint as they hosted 7-4A conference opponents the Bauxite Miners.
The Leopards dominated the first half by scoring five touchdowns to take the lead 35-0. The Miners avoided a shoutout when they scored in the third quarter to trail 35-7 but the Malvern defense rallied to get the win 35-7. The win over the Miners puts the Leopards at 2-2 for the 2020 season and at 1-0 for 7-4A conference play.
Malvern head coach J.D. Plumlee was happy with how the Leopards performed against the Miners. “No punts in the first half, 35 points, not a whole lot went wrong,” he said. “We challenged our guys and we just got after it, so happy for my guys. It was just a great night to be a Leopard.”
Plumlee was also proud of how sophomore quarterback Cedric “Ced” Simmons performed Friday. Simmons completed 12 of 17 passes for three touchdowns and ran the ball 7 times for 28 yards and 1 rushing touchdown. “Cedric really responded this week and played a really good first half.”
Next week, the Leopards are on the road for more 7-4A competition taking on the Haskell Harmony Grove Cardinals (0-4 overall, 0-1 conference) at Sykes Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Leopards started the game by winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half. The Leopards’ defense then came up strong to force a three and out by the Miners. Starting at their own 36-yard line the Leopards were held to a fourth down but a fumbled snap led to Malvern’s Dante Reed picking up the ball and running for a first down to save the drive. After that, the Leopards were able to sustain the drive and score a touchdown. Malique Reliford, who was wearing the number 4 jersey in honor of the late James King, scored from two yards out to put the Leopards on the board first. The PAT by Jesus Rodea put the Leopards up 7-0 with 6:17
left in the first.
On the kickoff, Bauxite fumbled the returned where it was recovered by Malvern’s Jacobe Hart at the Bauxite 26-yard line. It didn’t take long for the Leopards to score again as Simmons ran in for a 1 yard touchdown. Once again Rodea kicked the ball through the uprights to give
the Leopards the lead 14-0 with 4:06 to play in the first.
The Miners next drive ended with a turnover on downs after Braylon Watson sacked the Miners quarterback, Hunter Ferrell, at the Bauxite 45-yard line. The Leopards wouldn’t capitalize
on the turnover as they committed a fumble two plays into the drive. The Miners took over and were held to a fourth down as the first quarter came to an end with the Leopards leading 14-0.
After a punt by the Miners to start the fourth, the Leopards started their next drive at their own 27-yard line. Hart was able to rush to the Malvern 43-yard to move the ball downfield. From there, Simmons connected with Carter Martin for a 57 yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good and the Leopards led the Miners 21-0 with 11 minutes left in the second.
The Leopards scored two more times in the second after forcing the Miners to turn the ball over on downs on two drives. On the first of the two scoring plays, Simmons found Martin for a second time to score a 26 yard touchdown. The PAT was good and the Leopards led 28-0 with 7:13 remaining in the second. On the second scoring play, Simmons threw to Dante Reed for a 24 yard touchdown. After the made extra point by Rodea, the Leopards led 35-0 with 45.5 seconds left in the first half.
The Miners tried to score in the remaining seconds of the first half, but Hart intercepted Ferrell’s pass with 2.2 seconds left.
With the sportsmanship rule in effect, the Leopards had four
drives in the second half. One drive ended in a punt, the only punt for the Leopards, and two ended in fumbles that were recovered by the Miners.
The Miners had three drives in the second half. The Miners’ first drive ended with a punt while their second drive ended with their only score of the game. After recovering a Leopard fumble, the Miners set up at the Malvern 17-yard line. Three plays later Ferrell found the end zone on a 4 yard touchdown run. The Miners’ PAT was good as they trailed 35-7 as the third quarter ended. The Miners final drive, in the fourth ended with Ferrell throwing an interception to Malvern’s Jose Valdivia. The Leopards then took the victory formation to end the game and get the win.