On Thursday, October 30th, the Malden Golden Tornados football team returned to their home field, but unfortunately, faced a rough loss against the Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School Wild Cats, resulting in a score of 40-22.
Senior captain Kenny Turcios-Melgar believes that it was a ”challenging game for the seniors as they were emotionally prepared for senior night and not just expecting the game head-on and on a hard rainy day, that kind of messed us up.”
On Whittier Tech’s first play, they scored a touchdown. “The Linebackers were having trouble filling the gaps, which was ultimately our downfall due to not mentally being in the game,” senior Jahiem Francillonn explained.
The Golden Tornados started to initiate a stronger defense, not allowing Whittier Tech to earn their 2-point conversion, when senior Matthew DeCosta was able to make the tackle. The ball then ended up being returned after the kickoff by freshman Arthur Sewell.
Following this return, Francillon made an important pancake block on Whittier Tech’s player, allowing senior captain Billy Gavin to complete a pass for 35 yards to senior captain and Blue and Gold Reporter, Manny Perez, resulting in a first down and a rowdy audience jumping in joy.
With the second quarter starting, Whittier scored a touchdown, followed by Decosta blocking the 2-point conversion.
But McGuffie ended up scoring a touchdown for the Tornados, and with the help of his defense, the score was 20-8, Whittier Tech.
Both teams instantly started recollecting themselves and focusing in the second half. Whittier Tech and the Tornados traded touchdowns, leaving the third quarter score 28-14, Whittier Tech.
In the fourth quarter, they demonstrated a strong offense with a completed pass from Gavin to Perez, running a successful 20-yard post route. This led to a first down and set the tone for the rest of their fourth quarter.
Then, senior Ismail Elbahlawan left his block topick up a fumbled ball and ended up making a touchdown, helped by the rest of the team who were blocking every Whittier Tech player who was attempting to make the tackle on him. The whole team ended up running to Elbahlawan and lifted him in triumph, congratulating him.
The whole audience was riled up and had hope for the rest of the game, but it was too late for the Malden Golden Tornados to make a comeback. “We locked in too late in the second half, and we just didn’t have enough time to make a whole turn around,” voiced senior Elbahlawan.
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