When you have the momentum, life is good. When the momentum is possessed by your opponent, life stinks. After 14 minutes of hard-fought, scoreless football, the Malcolm football team watched Yutan take the ‘mo’ and put up 27 points in less than 10 minutes en route to a 34-12 win over the Clippers in their Sept. 3 home opener.
Each team traded possessions and punts in the first quarter before the Chieftains put together a long scoring drive to open the second frame. The drive culminated in an 11-yard strike on fourth-and-goal from Paul Kirchmann to Derek Wacker.
After a failed Malcolm drive, Yutan got the ball back midway through the quarter and put together another drive that ended with a fourth down strike from Kirchmann. This time it was a 29-yard pass to Jett Arensberg to put Yutan up 13-0 with just over four minutes to play in the half.
“Our achilles heel the past couple of years has been these spans where we just play poorly for a little while,” Malcolm head coach Scott Amen said. “You take away that last half of that quarter and it’s a pretty even game.”
Yutan scored two more quick touchdowns before the half was over as Isaiah Daniell got loose on a 58-yard punt return before Sam Petersen caught a 45-yard pass with 30 seconds left in the half.
“They completed four passes all night,” Amen said. “But two were on fourth down and three were for touchdowns.
“We have to do a better job of not getting caught with our eyes in the backfield. Next thing you know a receiver gets behind you and you’re in trouble.”
The Clippers did respond in the third quarter as quarterback Hayden Frank found some open field for a 49-yard scamper that put Malcolm on the board.
Early in the fourth quarter, Frank found Connor Zegar, who won a battle on a jump ball and came down with a 53-yard touchdown to make the score 27-12.
The Clippers attempted an onside kick and just missed regaining possession of the ball.
“That was a big one,” Amen said. “We almost got that. It was so close. If we do get it and go down and score, it’s a one possession game.”
Instead, Yutan took control of the ball and the clock with a slow march down the field on its final scoring drive.
In the midst of the loss, the Clippers did find some positives.
“Our run defense was solid most of the night,” Amen said. “We also threw the ball better than we did last week.”
The Clippers allowed 102 yards on the ground and 184 yards total. Malcolm had 215 total yards including 129 through the air with Frank going 11-for-22 with one interception. Frank also led the Clippers with 69 yards on the ground.
Malcolm (0-2) heads to Falls City (0-2) Friday, Sept. 10.
“We need to keep getting better and that’s what we hope to see this week,” Amen said. “A win would give us a much needed shot of confidence.”
