Stevenson breaks records as Malden football beats Kelly in district quarterfinal

MALDEN, Mo. -- Tray Stevenson broke the Malden football record for rushing yards in a season and escorted lineman Jackson Wilson on a long fumble return for a touchdown Friday night.

Wilson picked up a fumble and returned it 75 yards in the closing seconds of the first half in a 56-8 Malden win over Kelly in a Class 2 District 1 quarterfinal at The Swamp.

"I was pretty tired," Wilson said. "I saw the ball on the ground, just thought I'd try to make a play for my team, give us more momentum going into the half.

"I didn't think I was going to make it 70 yards or whatever it was, but it happened."

The Green Wave (9-1) got three touchdown runs from Stevenson, a pair of touchdown pass by Mason Brown to Onterio Reed and Broddric Annesser, who each had an interception on defense. Reed returned his for a touchdown 21 seconds after Annesser returned a punt 85 yards to the end zone.

All that was missing was a kick return for a score.

"We scored a lot of different ways tonight," Malden coach Kevin Collier said.

Most of it came in the final 12 1/2 minutes of the first half after the Green Wave opened the game with an interception by Reed on a pass tipped by Drew Ryan to set up a 37-yard scoring drive.

Stevenson reached 2,000 rushing yards for the season on his second carry, a 20-yard gain, and capped Malden's first possession with a 1-yard TD dive on third down.

The senior broke Romello McCoy's 2,106-yard season record set in 2012 on a 23-yard gain on the third play of the second half. Stevenson's 180 yards on 14 carries put him at 2,148 for the season.

"It's all the O-line blocking for me, working hard in practice, weight room and just come out here and play on Fridays," said Stevenson, who is averaging 9.7 yards per carry.

Said Wilson, "We always take pride in being the most physical team in our run game."

Stevenson's 59-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion run put the Green Wave up 14-0 with 24 seconds left in the first quarter.

By the time Malden's offense got the ball back the lead had increased to 30-0.

Annesser picked up a punt that bounced on the 15-yard line, made a defender miss and headed up the left sideline before cutting back to finish an 85-yard return to the end zone.

Two snaps later, Reed picked off a pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.

"They got us in all three phases and that's what a good team does, they capitalize in all three phases and coach Collier got them going," Kelly coach Lance Powers said.

Malden's defense forced a three-and-out, one of three, but a block-in-the-back penalty two plays later on a scramble by Brown knocked the Green Wave back. Facing a first-and-29, Stevenson ran for 19 but Malden was still 11 yards short of a first down two plays later. Brown threw a jump ball that Annesser grabbed on fourth down and finished the 46-yard touchdown for a 36-0 lead.

Brown hit Reed for a 41-yard touchdown pass with just over 2 minutes left in the half but Kelly threatened to score before the break.

A facemask penalty on the kickoff put the Hawks into Malden territory. Payton Eftink caught a pair of passes from Christian Worley and Trystan Wohlferd ran for 12 yards. Kelly faced a third-and-4 at the Malden 13 when Keaten Powell sacked Worley.

The Hawks fumbled ensuing snap and Wilson picked it up and ran with teammates at his side to the other end zone. A flag was thrown at midfield during the return for a sideline warning on Kelly.

"Oh yeah, I was about to cry, I thought it got called back," Wilson said.

Dominic Leslie's kick put Malden up 50-0 at the half, which featured the district champion volleyball team being honored.

Malden's pursuit of a fourth straight district title in football continues Friday when the Green Wave host East Prairie (5-5), which upset third-seeded Jefferson 36-21.

Top-seeded Caruthersville will host Charleston in the other semifinal with winners advancing to the Nov. 3 final.

"We're a little beat up so the big deal was getting through tonight and playing well and taking care of what we do," Collier said.

The Hawks, who managed 11 total yards in a 50-0 loss to Malden on Sept. 8, scored with 3:10 remaining. Urhahn finished a nine-play, 65-yard scoring drive with a 21-yard touchdown run.

Urhahn, a freshman, led Kelly with 65 yards rushing and caught an 11-yard pass. Wohlferd added 33 yards rushing while Worley completed 7 of 14 passes for 76 yards.

In their fourth year at the varsity level, the Hawks are still looking for their first postseason win.

"Our program, we've got a ways to go but we're going to get there," Powers said.

It was the final game for 10 Kelly seniors, including a handful of the program's first four-year varsity lettermen who played in the very first junior high team.

"These guys definitely put a stepping stone for us to start moving more in the right direction," Powers said. "Proud of this team, proud of my seniors.

"It's heartbreaking for them and it's hard for me to tell them that they have to turn their pads in."

First Quarter

MAL -- Stevenson 1 run (pass fail), 8:16.

MAL -- Stevenson 59 run (Stevenson run), 0:24.

Second Quarter

MAL -- Annesser 85 punt return (Stevenson run), 10:51.

MAL -- Reed 35 interception return (Stevenson run), 10:30.

MAL -- Annesser 46 pass from Brown (kick fail), 7:02.

MAL -- Reed 41 pass from Brown (Leslie kick), 2:04.

MAL -- Wilson 75 fumble return (Leslie kick), 0:07.

Third Quarter

MAL -- Stevenson 4 run (run fail), 8:44.

Fourth Quarter

KEL -- Urhahn 21 run (Shadwick run), 3:10.

TEAM STATISTICS

MAL KEL

First downs 6 9

Total yards 311 189

Rushes-yards 26-193 36-113

Passing yds. 118 76

Punt returns 2-105 0-0

Kickoff returns 1-10 10-104

Defensive returns 2-115 0-0

Comp-Att-Int 5-6-0 7-14-2

Sacked-yds. lost 0-0 2-12

Punts-avg. 1-41.0 6-16.8

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1

Penalties-yards 4-30 5-26

Time of Poss. 16:17 31:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Malden, Stevenson 14-180. Heck 4-14. McBride 1-3. Annesser 1-3. Amoss 2-3. Brown 1-(-3). Team 1-(-9). Kelly, Urhahn 12-65. Wohlferd 13-33. Shadwick 3-6. Worley 5-6. Williams 1-2. Eftink 1-1. Team 1-0.

PASSING -- Malden, Brown 5-6-0 118. Kelly, Worley 7-14-2 76.

RECEIVING -- Malden, Annesser 2-64. Reed 1-41. Miller 1-9. Caruso 1-4. Kelly, Eftink 3-26. Hahs 2-26. Casey 1-13. Urhahn 1-11.

MISSED KICKS -- None.