Malvern uses quick start to stop Ashdown

MALVERN, Ark. — From the first play from scrimmage Friday night, the football was bouncing Malvern’s way.

On the first play following the opening kickoff a botched snap by Ashdown gave Malvern (5-1, 2-0 4A-7) possession at the opposing 40-yard line.

Eight plays later, the Leopards were in the end zone for the first time in their 48-21 win at Claude Mann Stadium.

To finish the drive, Malvern quarterback Cedric Simmons completed his first pass to wide receiver Dyelon Caradine to make the score 7-0.

Malvern’s first drive was a sign of things to come for the offense as the Leopards routinely had long, methodical drives.

Ashdown (5-1, 1-1) attempted to regain the momentum with its next drive. But running back Jayden Fricks was stopped 2 yards short on fourth down, and Malvern took over at the Panthers’ 46.

Malvern, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, answered with a 13-play scoring drive, capped by running Jalen Dupree’s 1-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.

Ashdown, No. 3 in 4A, entered the game allowing 8.8 points per game, the fourth-best mark in the state and tops in Class 4A.

But from its first possession, the Malvern offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage and led the way to 262 rushing yards between Simmons and Dupree.

“When we’re clicking, we’re tough to beat,” Malvern coach JD Plumlee said. “It starts with our guys up front. I can’t say enough about our five offensive linemen and (tight end) Kealon Juniel. Those guys were blocking all night and they were tough yards. That’s a good defense.

“We challenged our guys all night that they pride themselves in their defensive front, we pride ourselves to run the ball, and we were going to see who was going win. And we were better tonight.”

Quarterback Jonathan Mcelroy scored on a 62-yard run on the first play of Ashdown’s ensuing drive. But Malvern followed with a nine-play drive that ended with Dupree’s second touchdown to make it 21-6.

Each team found the end zone once more in the first half. Simmons faked a pitch to Dupree and hit wide receiver Dante Cagle over the top of the Ashdown defense for a 57-yard score. It was followed by a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Mcelroy with 23 seconds left to make the score 28-14 going into halftime.

Malvern did more of the same out of the break, running more than 4 minutes of game clock on the opening drive to score and make it 35-14. It was Dupree’s third score of five.

He scored on Malvern’s next two drives to extend the lead to 48-14. Dupree finished with 148 rushing yards on 33 carries as Malvern leaned on the junior to control the game.

Malvern got within Ashdown’s 20-yard line on every drive through three quarters except one — the touchdown catch by Cagle. With 7:04 left in the fourth quarter, the Leopards turned it over on downs and the Panthers scored their final touchdown on a 34-yard run by Mason Washington.

Malvern’s offense didn’t do anything flashy other than a lone wide receiver pass. Aside from that play, Ashdown coach Matt Richardson said his team’s downfall was self-inflicted.

“When you start off the game with a fumble on the first play, and we throw two picks, that’s the (most turnovers we’ve had this season),” he said. “Look at the difference on the scoreboard and all those are those possessions.

“We didn’t get lined up correctly. Watch the film back and you’re going to see that we’re not lined up the correct way. We had a bad night not getting lined up defensively, so those are things we’re going to go fix.”

Ashdown’s next two games are at home against Nashville and Arkadelphia.