Leopards season ends to Rivercrest, 28-21
JD Plumlee super proud how hometown Leopards represented Malvern
RIVERCREST — For an unfortunate season ending finale for the No. 4 seed hometown Malvern Leopards Friday, Head Leopard JD Plumlee was super proud of how his team fought in another classic postseason battle against No. 1 seed Rivercrest Colts in the 2021 Class 4A State Playoffs in Rivercrest. Malvern came up short 28-21 to the Colts for a competitive second round playoff match-up.
The Leopards had suffered some adversity with two key starters—tyson Cooper and super sophomore running back Jalen Dupree having to leave the game due to injury Friday against the Colts. Plumlee was honored that the Leopards kept fighting and really represented like true champions in an exciting blockbuster football game—between two really good teams of the gridiron.
“This was just a great playoff football game,” Plumlee said. “We had a couple key plays down the stretch, but just couldn’t get a defensive stop.”
Plumleed added, “With all of the injuries and losing two key starters—[tyson] Cooper, [Jalen] Dupree, the kids kept fighting—hat’s off to Rivercrest on the victory.”
Plumlee also mentioned, “I’m super proud of our seniors and they really battled all season long—we just came up short tonight.”
The Leopards racked up 340 total yards of offense while the Colts accounted for 334 yards of offensive execution.
Dupree led the Leopards’ rushing attack with 126 yards on 19 carries and scored two touchdowns before his exit due to injury. Playmaker Braylon Watson had 51 yards rushing on 15 carries and Ja Noah Harris had 5 carries for 23 yards rushing to spark Malvern’s run game. Watson went 1-for-1 passing for 8 yards while Evan Myers completed 8 of 8 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown. Chase Mcalister went 1-for-1 passing for 3 yards. Senior Carter Martin led the receiving core with 3 receptions for 58 yards and one touchdown—kealon Juniel had 2 receptions for 36 yards—jabri Artis had two receptions for 33 yards—dupree, Watson and Hunter Adams each had 1 reception apiece.
The Leopards finished the season 6-6 overall, 4-3 in conference, making this three consecutive years as playoff qualifying contenders during the “JD Plumlee Era.”