Friday night football returned to Malad September 5 as the MHS Dragons held their opening home game as they hosted the Ririe Bulldogs.  Malad came up short on the scoreboard, but also tallied up a fumble recovery, 160 yards rushing, 85 yards passing, with both a rushing and passing touchdown. 

Despite the loss, the late summer night game turned out to be a great start for the team’s homefield contests.  Head Coach Brady Price shared, “I was really happy with the way the offense played against Ririe. I know that the point total doesn’t show it but I thought we really got in a good rhythm and were moving the ball. I know it’s tough after a loss, but I was really proud of the way we were playing against them.”

The Dragons kicked off to the Bulldogs, Ririe making slow but steady progress moving the ball down the middle of the field on their opening drive.  On another drive up the middle as they were nearing the endzone, Drake Morrison hit the Ririe ball carrier, the ball bouncing out ahead of them.  The landing just before him, Easton Green dove to take possession of the football before Ririe could recover the turnover.

The MHS offense took the field but couldn’t quite get things in motion to convert on their first drive of the game, punting the ball away after three down.  

Ririe adjusted their offensive play from the running game up the middle to the outside where they were able to make quicker gains.  Their new strategy led to the first score of the game, putting the Dragons behind 0-8 after the touchdown and successful two point conversion.

The Malad offense responded with successful drive of their own as they finished out the first quarter and played into the second.  Morrison and Holdan Tubbs were the primary ball carriers for the Dragons but strong blocks by Justin Toone and Kurt Ward, well placed passes by quarterback Green, and even smartly executed fake handoffs by Chase Martin helped march the team down the field.

Just before the first quarter ended, Green called for the ball and rolled out of the pocket for space to throw.  Looking downfield, he found Morrison open and connected with the pass.  Morrison pushed on another 10 yards before being brought down at the 5 yard line.

It took multiple goes for the Dragons to break across the goal line.  On third and goal, Green feigned a handoff to Morrison, only to have Tubbs come up behind to take the ball and break through the defensive line for the touch down.  The point after touchdown attempt was unsuccessful, putting the score at 6-8.  

Ririe’s offense was undeterred by the score, running the ball down the field over a number of plays before scoring a second touchdown and PAT for the night.  Kicking off after the score, the Bulldogs booted a short onside kick, catching the Dragons off guard and recovered the kick to return their offense to the field.  

While the back to back offensive go’s for the Bulldogs was frustrating, the MHS defense stepped up to the task.  Ririe attempted a series of passing plays that the Dragon defenders rushed and frustrated, led in part by Toone, Holden, and Braxden Kaufman, resulting in a complete shut down of their forward progress.  

But readjusting back to the run, the Bulldogs found their way into the endzone once again.  Martin and Parker Price thwarted the PAT attempt, landing the score at 6-22.  The Bulldogs would score once more behind time would expire in the second quarter, ending the half 6-30.

Coming into the third quarter, the Dragons received the kickoff, moving the football into Bulldog territory, but came up short on a scoring drive.  Ririe’s first drive of the half ended in another score, capped off with a field goal to put them up 6-37.

Keeping the ball to start the fourth quarter, Malad strung together a series of plays to bring them down the field, knocking on the endzone.  Ky Willie made a big play as he scooped up a perfectly placed pass from Green for 17 yards, getting the first down and stirring up a little momentum for the Dragons.  Morrison followed with another gain for Malad, Toone creating a large hole for him to make his way through.  

The MHS team found themselves on fourth and short.  Instead of a short punch across the line of scrimmage, Green stepped back for the pass.  Martin, on the right edge of the field, took off down the field into the Bulldog defense before breaking toward the center of the field.   With one defender following him and one coming across to meet him, Martin turned back to catch the long throw from green for another Dragon touchdown.

The followed with a final scoring drive for the night to end the game 12-44.

“Ririe is a very tough team and really has a great chance in playing in the State championship this year,” commented Coach Price.  He continued, “I thought our team really came out well against them.  We had a few bad things happen back to back in the 2nd quarter that really made the game difficult for us. Except for those few minutes, I was really proud of the way we were playing against them.”

The MHS team will take their game on the road as they play the 4A American Falls Beavers on Friday, September 12.