Malvern golf heads to state tournament
ARKADELPHIA — To showcase an impressive rivalry showdown performance on the road for ‘’Thursday Night Lights” junior high football action— the hometown Malvern Cubs swept wins against Arkadelphia Thursday at Badger Stadium.
The Cubs junior high squad took care of business on the gridiron to move to 2-0 in conference play with their 28-7 victory against a tough
Arkadelphia Freshmen Badgers team. The Cubs improve to 3-1 overall and remain unbeaten in league play. Malvern junior high football head coach Darryl Baker thought his troops played outstanding defense and stepped up to play effectively without a few key players out. Baker mentioned the Cubs have shown growth and maturity in their abilities as productive ball players. He feels—as a team, the Cubs are really buying into the philosophy they have been teaching in their football program. Arkadelphia topped Nashville last week and Baker was extremely proud how well Malvern went into Badger Stadium to come out victorious.
“I was really pleased with how our kids played. I thought our kids really responded well and defensively they flew to the ball and did a good job with their game tackling,” Barker said.
Prior to Thursday’s game, Baker noted, the Cubs had a good week of practice preparing for their matchup against Arkadelphia. The level of focus was key and it earned them another big win to secure back-to-back conference victories.
The Cubs’ ground attack was productive. Malvern racked up around 300 yards rushing led by Jahnoah Harris—accounting for three trips into the end zone. Harris carried the pigskin 20 times for 271 yards rushing with a 9, 22 and 49 yard touchdown runs against the Badgers. Also sparking Malvern’s run game was Jalen Depree with five carries for 10 yards rushing and scored a 3-yard touchdown run at the 1:27 mark in the first quarter. Tre Richardson had one carry for 18 yards rushing. Quarterback Kealen Juniel commanded the offense and completed key pass receptions to Ethan Martin and Richardson on the receiving end.
In the first quarter, Hunter Adams recovered a fumble for an Arkadelphia turnover to give Malvern possession down to the 6:38 mark. This began the Cubs scoring drive that led to Dupree’s 3-yard TD run to lead Arkadelphia 6-0 at the end of the first quarter. In the second, Arkadelphia took the lead at the 7:38 mark from a 45-yard TD run scored by Deangelo Buckley with the extra point successful to give the Badgers a one-point advantage over Malvern, 7-6. From this point, the Badgers never touched the end zone again. The Cubs regained the lead off Harris’ 9-yard TD run at the 3:36 mark with the 2-point conversion scored by Juniel to give Malvern a 14-7 advantage at the break.
In the third quarter, the Cubs put the game away by Harris’ two TD runs (22, 49 yards) offensively and recovering an onside kick by Dyelon Caradine. After three quarters of action, Malvern held the 21-point advantage against the Badgers that sealed victory. In the fourth, defensively for the Cubs— Jessie Casey put the nail on the coffin with an interception at the 1:29 mark off the Badger’s turnover. Malvern’s QB Juniel kneeled in victory formation to run the clock out to secure a Cubs’ win.
7TH GRADE Malvern Cubs 6, Arka
delphia 0
In the first contest of the night, Malvern produced a shutout victory against Arkadelphia 6-0. For two halves of football action, the Malvern defense held Arkadelphia in check and displayed stout defensive stops to keep the Badgers end zoneless the entire 40 minute running clock game. Defensively, Colby Cooper and Charles Milton each had an interception apiece to spark the defense.
Malvern posted the game’s lone touchdown of the night in the first half by quarterback Kyler Wright completed a touchdown pass reception to Kahlen Cooper at the 6:32 mark for the 6-0 lead. In the second half, both defensive units of Arkadelphia and Malvern held each other scoreless. Malvern moved the ball productively with Tavin Clegg picking up a few first downs for the Cubs ground attack.