Moving the chains is the goal of the game, and that is just what the MHS football team did as they took on the America Falls Beavers.  Throughout the four quarter battle on the field, the Dragons tallied 126 yards rushing and 136 yards passing, equating in two touchdowns.  However, it wasn’t quite enough to pull out the win, falling 14-26.

It was a rocky start for the Dragons. Kicking off to the Beavers, American Falls managed to wind their way and avoid the MHS tackles to score on their opening kickoff return.  The remainder of the night, Malad would try to dig themselves out of that deficit.  

Both teams suffered an interception in their following drives as well as penalties as they worked the kinks out and settled into the game.  The Beaver’s final drive of the quarter marched them into the red zone before the time expired for the quarter.  Starting where they left off, it took no time at all to add a second touchdown to their score.

Shaking off the first quarter, the Dragon offense was set to make some meaningful gains.  Starting at the 46 yard line after a strong kickoff return, the MHS team consistently worked to move the chains to punch in a touchdown of their own in just five plays.  

The lateral pass, fake handoff and pitch, and straight run up the middle kept the Beaver defense on their toes and unsure where the Dragons would be coming from.  The scoring play of the drive was a simple pitch to Holdan Tubbs but it was the huge block by Chase Martin that made it possible for him to run it for Malad’s first score of the game.

Unfortunately American Falls followed with a scoring drive of their own as well as an additional touchdown before the half ended.  The Beaver’s speed and agility made it difficult to contain their ball carriers as they sprinted across the field.

The second half fared much better for the Dragons.  Things began to click for the MHS defense to keep a tighter coverage and more complete tackling to keep the American Falls team out of the endzone for the remainder of the night.  Green managed a second interception of the night while Braxden Kaufman forced the fumble with Matt Briscoe coming up behind him to recover it.

That fumble recovery set Malad up for a final scoring drive.  Starting near the 50 yard line, the Dragons strung together a number of passing plays to move the ball down the field, Tubbs and Justin Toone the MHS receivers to make the play.  The offensive line did well to withstand the rushing Beaver defense, giving Green the time he needed to make the pass.  

Now on the 30 yard line, Green back peddled for space to find his receivers.  Rolling to the left to find an open man, Green was disappointed to find all his receivers covered and an oncoming rusher headed his way.  He began sprinting to the right, with the defense hot on his heels.  Just seconds before the tackle, he heaved up a long pass for the endzone.  Tubbs looked over his shoulder to catch the pass just as he stepped over the goal line surrounded by the Beaver defense.  Adding a PAT field goal, the play marked the final score of the game, 14-26.

Breaking down the game, Head Coach Brady Price admitted the game had some trying moments.  He shared, “The game against American Falls was a little frustrating. I feel like we had two big mental lapses on special teams that ended in touchdowns.” Despite those few vexing plays, Coach Price was still pleased with his players’ efforts and outcome.  He continued, “Other than those two things I thought we played really well and shut them out in the 2nd half. American Falls is really becoming a top program in that district and to compete like we did for the game shows that we are moving in the right direction.”

Offensively, Tubbs led the team in rushing with  65 yards and 1 TD as well as receiving with 40 yards and 1 receiving TD.  Quarterback Green completed 9 of 17 passes with 136 yards.  Defensively, the leading tacklers were Kaufman and Drake Morrison with 7 tackles each.  Kaufman also had a forced fumble, Driscoe recovering it, with Green adding 2 interceptions.

The Dragons return home for their upcoming game against the Firth Cougars on Friday, September 19.