On Thursday, November 27th, Malden had its 138th annual Thanksgiving game against Medford, where Malden took the trophy home for the first time in three years after a 20-8 win. The game started with a small farewell celebration, as this game was used as a placeholder for Medford’s senior night. Malden, in an effort to be supportive of Medford, was seen clapping for them despite the rivalry.
After their ceremony and the national anthem, the game opened with Malden having the ball first after a coin flip, with Medford winning the toss but deferring.
Sophomore Captain Jayden McGuffie was already looking forward to hitting his 2000 yards of the season, so he was in a winning mood. As he received the ball, he stayed on his feet, making his way effortlessly through Medford’s defense. Commenters stated, “Medford, it looked like they were kind of on their heels for a little bit, not really ready for the quickness of McGuffie.” McGuffie successfully ran a 2-point conversion and went into the end zone untouched.
With Medford returning the ball, despite their struggles with defense from Malden, they were able to display their offense, which seemed to be stronger than their defense. Medford caught up to Malden after scoring a touchdown and making the conversion. The first quarter ended 8-8.
Defense on both teams matched each other’s as the second quarter remained scoreless, marking the start of halftime, and the score was tied 8-8. There were various efforts made by the Tornados as McGuffie ran the whole field and attempted a touchdown, but received a flag on the play, not earning the touchdown. This happened twice in the second quarter and ultimately didn’t earn any touchdown points.
Medford seemed to be making a comeback in the third quarter, but their momentum wasn’t a match for Malden’s defense as they ended up fumbling the ball. Malden was able to recover the ball, and senior left tackle Jahiem Francillon drove through Medford’s middle linebacker, allowing McGuffie to run a whopping 87 yards down the field to score a touchdown. This put Malden back in the lead at 14-8, but they didn’t receive the 2-point conversion, leaving the third quarter at 14-8.
Offensive lineman senior Johnathan Ventura highlighted, “Everyone on the O-line was blocking their targets and doing their job, the chemistry was on point and was a key point to us winning and allowing the space for Jayden McGuffie to score.”
Francillon gave a shout-out to the defensive line, stating, “The tackles were important and really made an impact on the game’s outcome.”
Entering the fourth quarter, with Medford possessing the ball, senior defensive back Jemiah Charles shut down Medford’s star receiver, not allowing a pass. This set the tone for Malden’s defense as freshman outside linebacker Arthur Sewell tackled Medford’s running back from scoring a big touchdown that would’ve caught Medford up to Malden. This left Medford to not scoring another touchdown in the fourth quarter.
McGuffie ended up scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter and was assisted by Francillon. He made a block that cleared the path for McGuffie to make the touchdown, untouched, once again ending the game in a 20-8 score in favor of Malden.
This game allowed the team to feel better about how the season went because regardless of their team score in the season and in the GBL they were still able to bring their annual game trophy back home.
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