Malden defensive tackle Josh Louis, top, and end Dywhite Jackson (42) stop Scott City running back Josh Trapp (34) for a loss during the second quarter Wednesday night in the MSHSAA Class 2 regional playoff at Scott City. (Brian Rosener/DAR)

By ROB TATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

SCOTT CITY -- In sports, winning never gets old. But for the Malden Green Wave as of late, it's becoming all too routine after a season of more downs than ups.

The Green Wave came away with its third straight win, 24-8 at Scott City, avenging a Week 1 loss that started the early season tailspin.

Malden's remarkable late-season run will continue at 7 p.m. Monday in Caruthersville in the MSHSAA Class 2 sectional playoff.

"If feels great, everybody's been counting us out all season," Malden senior Andy Matthews said. "And then we starting putting it together in districts and now we've made it through the first round of playoffs and we are all excited right now. It's overwhelming."

After a scoreless first quarter, the Green Wave (4-7) put together a strong performance in the second quarter scoring 17 points to get a nice cushion.

From there, Malden relied on its defense to stay ahead in the second half as the Green Wave offense sputtered for just 26 of their 150 total yards.

"They shut our offense down in the second half," Malden coach Gary Blaylock said. "We didn't get a first down (in the fourth quarter). But our defense has been playing all year, we're finally getting a break (especially when) we get a fumble."

Scott City receiver Austin Brawley catches a pass in front of Malden's Andy Matthews during the second half Wednesday night in Scott City. (Brian Rosener/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

The Green Wave recovered three big fumbles in the second half, holding the Rams to just the one score. The biggest turnover helped Malden stop the Rams as they charged down the field on a 16-play drive that started at the end of the third quarter all the to 7:02 left to play. A bad snap by the Rams at the Malden 2-yard line was recovered by Travis Gregory at his own 1-yard line.

But Malden couldn't get movement down the field on the ensuing drive, and the Green Wave purposely gave the Rams two points on a safety to get more space on the ensuing kickoff.

After the teams exchanged possessions, Scott City got the ball at its own 7-yard line with 1:09 left. On the first play of the drive, the Rams fumbled the ball and Malden defensive lineman Kwamena Bondzie pounced on it in the end zone for the touchdown.

Malden senior Dillion Criglar also recovered a fumble with 8:51 left in third quarter.

Malden's defense stayed on the field for over 17 minutes in the second half.

"A lot of our guys on defense go one way," Blaylock said. "So we get to save them a little bit that way. We gotta be able to score points though, we got a break there at the end of the game."

As big as the defense was in the second half, the offense put up great numbers in the second quarter as the Green Wave gave its defense a comfortable lead.

The Green Wave found the end zone twice in the quarter on passing plays from quarterback Kaleb Loughary. First, Loughary found Raphael Jones for a 13-yard score with 11:49 left in the second quarter. After holding the Rams to a three-and-out, Loughary then hooked up with Andy Matthews on a 49-yard score for Matthews' fifth touchdown of the season.

Svein Hansen, who Blaylock credited afterwards for his great kickoffs on the night, later hit a 40-yard field goal to give the Green Wave a 17-0 halftime lead.

The Rams' only touchdown on the night came with 3:55 to go in the third quarter when Cody Page found Ronnie Wright for a 42-yard touchdown pass.

"We had our opportunities, we just didn't get it done down here (in the red zone)," Scott City coach Ronnie Jones said. "You're not supposed to mess up a snap if your seniors on the 1-yard line. It came back and it haunted us."

Although his team dominated in the ball control, Jones said his team didn't change much in the second half.

"Basically, we did not change anything other than the fact that we said 'Hey, they're not doing anything that you're not prepared for,'" Jones said. "We've got to execute, they're not just going to give it to you. This is a playoff game.'"

Matthews said afterwards the Green Wave got inspired after seeing their teammate Robbie Duck was injured in the first game of districts at Caruthersville.

"After the Caruthersville game where (Robbie) got hurt playing his heart out, it just seems like we turned it up and started playing," Matthews said.

For the game, Loughary was 10-for-17 for 126 yards and Matthews led the receivers with six catches for 86 yards.

Matthews and Loughary have been very cohesive the last couple games, which has seen Matthews score twice in the last three weeks. Matthews did his best quarterback impression last week as he threw for two scores on trick plays against East Prairie.

"We've been friends for a long time," Matthews said. "After practices we'll work on that deep ball because that's what we really want to concentrate on because can get the short stuff. It's the long stuff we have trouble with. So we've been working on that real hard lately."

Blaylock and the Green Wave are looking forward to more practice this week and are taking their success in stride.

"I don't know what its gonna be like next week," Blaylock said. "We have five short days but we're gonna give'em heck just like we've been doing,"

Notes: Malden running back Raphael Jones left the game with an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter and did not return. Jones ran the ball 11 times 43 yards on the night. … The Rams outgained Malden 285-150. … Scott City won the first meeting 14-6, also at home. … Caruthersville, the District 1 champion, beat Crystal City 34-7. The Tigers (4-7) won the first meeting with Malden, 32-18, also at Caruthersville.