H.S. FOOTBALL: Peabody beats Milan on late TD
TRENTON – If Trenton Peabody’s football team could choose 42 seconds out of 48 minutes to lead Milan in their matchup Friday night to open the season, the Golden Tide picked the right ones.
Kendrick Malone’s 14-yard run to give the Golden Tide a 24-20 victory was the perfect way for the senior to end his career against his team’s archrival, according to the senior quarterback.
“We went into halftime down 10-0, and I asked the seniors if we wanted to be known as a team that won nine games but couldn’t beat Milan,” Malone said. “All of them said no, and we came out ready to play in the second half.”
Down 20-17 with less than three minutes left, the Golden Tide had to move the ball 80 yards down the field to score a touchdown. A field goal would’ve tied and forced overtime.
With 48 seconds remaining, the Golden Tide called timeout with the ball on the Milan 14-yard line before snapping the ball in a third-and-1 situation. The coaching staff called Malone’s number to carry the ball, as they had on every rushing play of that drive.
Malone said he didn’t see much on that play.
“I saw [teammate Zay Norman’s] butt, and I tried to put my face in it and follow him as far as I could,” Malone said. “I just kept following and before I knew it, we were both in the end zone.”
Malone then walked slowly around the back of the end zone toward the Peabody fans standing five-deep around the fence surrounding the field toward the Golden Tide sideline.
“My legs were cramping really badly, so I didn’t want to celebrate too hard,” Malone said while taking a knee during the postgame interview to ease the pain in his cramping legs.
The first half appeared as if the game would be another low-scoring game for Milan. The Bulldogs moved the ball a little better than Peabody did in the first two quarters. They scored one touchdown on a 24-yard touchdown run by J.P. Porter. His run made gave Milan a 10-0 lead after Connor Allen had kicked a 30-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Peabody didn’t change anything at halftime as far as game strategy is concerned.
“We just came out and played better,” said Peabody head coach Shane Jacobs. “We came out in that first half playing like we expected Milan to hand us this game, and Milan won’t give you anything.
“So at halftime we talked about coming out and playing with a sense of urgency and really taking it to them.”
That’s what happened. After forcing Milan to a three-and-out to open the third quarter, Peabody quickly got on the scoreboard when Malone ran 50 yards for a touchdown weaving through the Bulldog defense.
“We had some key players cramping up in that second half that hurt us,” said Milan head coach Jeff Morris. “But we fought them hard, and I think we’re better off as a team now than we were this time last week.
“We’ve got some things to fix, but we’re going to be OK.”
After Malone’s touchdown cut the Milan lead to 10-7 in the third quarter, Milan went back ahead by 10 when Landon Walker connected with Chandler Smith for a three-yard touchdown pass.
Peabody cut the lead to 17-10 on a 24-yard field goal by Austin Smith.
The Golden Tide defense then recovered a Milan fumble on the Milan 23-yard line, and Brandon Johnson carried the ball a yard five players later to tie the game at 17-17 going into the fourth quarter.
“One thing about this team is they’re resilient and will do their best to fight through adversity,” Jacobs said. “Tonight is a good example of that, and I would’ve been proud of them even if we hadn’t won this game.”
Brandon Shields, 425-9751
