Malvern may have started its season out with a win, but Lake Hamilton never slowed down after drawing first blood to take a 63-34 win over the Leopards at Claude Mann Stadium in Malvern Friday night.
After junior quarterback Layne Warrick scored on a 12-yard run just 1:16 into the game, sophomore Owen Miller ran the ball in from 23 yards out to give the Wolves (2-0) a 14-0 lead after kicks by sophomore Ivan Garcia and senior Spencer Hillard.
Following a 3-yard touchdown run by freshman quarterback Cedrick Simmons that pulled Malvern (1-1) within 14-7 after a Jesus Rodea kick, the Wolves added two more touchdowns, by junior Destin Rhodes and sophomore Tevin Woodley, to move to 28-7.
"We slowed it down a little bit [after that]," Lake Hamilton head coach Tommy Gilleran said. "They kind of worked their way back into the game."
Malvern pulled within 28-21, and with about four minutes left in the half, the Leopards muffed the Wolves' punt around the Malvern 15 yard line.
"I felt pretty strongly at that point that we'd have at least a chance to go down and tie the game at 28-28 going into half," said first-year Malvern head coach J.D. Plumlee. "And we got the ball coming out. In return we muffed the punt, sophomore punt returner. He was just a kid trying to make a play. Instead they punch it in and make it 35-21, and we have no timeouts. We drive the field, get down to about the three or four yard line when time expired and couldn't get a play off."
Coming out of the break, the Leopards fumbled the ball on their third play of the half, leading to another Wolf touchdown with 9:08 left in the third quarter to make it 42-21, and Malvern never could get back within two touchdowns the rest of the night.
"They're a lot bigger than us up front," Plumlee said. "We've got about seven or eight guys going both ways, and it was kind of a David and Goliath situation. They were two-platooning most of the time, and we're not.
"There were times that with a freshman at quarterback, he's learning every snap, I felt like we did some really good things. We left some points out there on the field. I felt like we left 14 points on the field when I got inside and watched it and graded it."
Gilleran said the team managed to hold back the Leopards' run game, which was a point of pride for the team in its season opener against Lakeside.
"They didn't hurt us with the run, and I think nobody really has so far," he said. "We know we've got to work on our back end. Our back end's not very good at this moment, but they're getting better. So we've got to continue to get better in our secondary, and that's something we talked about the other night. We've just got to continue to get better at that knowing that people are going to try to go after that now. And so we've got to do a better job of defending the pass."
Warrick was 5-for-6 passing for 145 yards with one interception and a touchdown. Miller led the Wolves on the ground with 14 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns with Woodley carrying 14 times for 97 yards and four scores. Rhodes had one carry for 71 yards and a touchdown.
Rhodes also led the team with a 53-yard reception, and junior Izaiah Clenney had two catches for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Simmons was 7-for-10 passing for 60 yards, and junior Braxton Allen was 9 for 14 for 197 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Kieth Caradine had 17 carries for 86 yards, Simmons had 11 for 49 with a score and sophomore Marquez Johnson was 9 for 47 with one touchdown.
Senior Christian Warren led the receivers corps with seven catches for 155 yards and a touchdown. Classmate Dallas Lewis had two 22-yard touchdown receptions for 44 yards, and junior Dante Reed had two catches for 35 yards.
The Wolves host Hot Springs on Friday night at Bank OZK Field, and the Leopards travel to Chick Austin Field to take on the Lakeside Rams. Kickoff for both games is set for 7 p.m.
Sports on 09/17/2019