PEA RIDGE -- Even when things went bad for Malvern, it still turned out good Friday night.
On the final play of the first half, Malvern receiver Derek Womack caught a pass over the middle and was headed to the end zone when he lost control of the ball. Teammate Devin Bradford alertly pounced on the football for a touchdown as the first half horn sounded.
How The Scored
Malvern 45, Pea Ridge 14
Malvern^10^21^7^7^—^45
Pea Ridge^0^6^0^8^—^14
First Quarter
Mal — FG Coston 25, 7:22
Mal — Dickens 28 pass from Collie (Coston kick), 4:19
Second Quarter
Mal — McCollum 28 run (Coston kick), 11:52
Pea — Ivy 1 run (kick fails), 7:03
Mal — McCollum 5 run (Coston kick), 2:54
Mal — Bradford fumble recovery (Coston kick), :00
Third Quarter
Mal — McCollum 6 run (Coston kick), 1:28
Fourth Quarter
Mal — Hernandez 71 run (Coston kick), 8:30
Pea — Ivy 2 run (Brumley pass to Hardy), :34
It was that kind of night for the Leopards. It was also that kind of night for the Blackhawks.
Malvern dominated both sides of the ball and unleashed a powerful running game en route to a 45-14 win in a Class 4A second-round playoff game at Blackhawk Stadium. The win sends the Leopards into the third-round next week.
"Our offensive line has done a great job all year," said Malvern coach Mike Scarbrough. "Those four seniors have played well. We were a little banged up, but we're getting healthy. Those guys played a lot last year and they gave our backs some pretty good holes tonight"
Malvern running backs Montae Hernandez and Jamari McCollum took advantage of the running lane, tearing through the Pea Ridge defense for 163 and 155 yards respectively. McCollum also scored three touchdowns.
"Jamari, he's a little bowling ball," Scarbrough said. "He runs the ball so hard and he's hard to bring down. And Hernanzez, he's a senior and had 1,700 yards last year. I'm so proud of him that he's not been jealous because Jamari is getting some of the carries that Montae got last year. They do make each other better football players."
Malvern (9-3) scored on five of its six first half possessions, its only non-scoring drive the result on a fumble. The Leopards jumped out to a 17-0 lead and hammered the Blackhawks (10-1) over and over with McCollum and Hernandez.
"They put a lot of talent on the field," Pea Ridge coach Tony Travis said of Malvern. "Their running backs and receivers get a lot of publicity, and rightfully so, but those five guys up front are pretty dang good. And it showed tonight."
After Malvern opened the scoring with a Elliot Coston 25-yard field goal, the Leopards took advantage of a short Pea Ridge punt and drove 48 yards, capped by a 28-yard touchdown pass from Trace Collie to Keidric Dickens and a 10-0 lead with 4 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first quarter.
Malvern extended the lead to 17-0 on McCollum's 24-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. McCollum (5-foot-5, 199 pounds) showed his nimble feet on the run, leaving a Pea Ridge defender grasping at air on a spin move and racing in for the score.
"Those guys are very fast," Travis said. "You can't take a wrong step or you're going to miss them. And we missed them too many times tonight."
The Blackhawks, who earned a first-round bye last week after winning the 4A-1 Conference title, got on the scoreboard after forcing a Malvern turnover when Thomas Lammey recovered a fumble near midfield. Seth Brumley's 24-yard quarterback keeper set up Shane Ivy's 1-yard touchdown run that cut Malvern's lead to 17-6 with 7:03 left in the first half.
The Leopards answered back quickly, marching 65 yards in 11 plays -- all on the ground -- and McCollum ended the march with a 5-yard touchdown run, then at the halftime horn, the Leopards added an insurance touchdown on the recovered fumble.
Malvern's defensive plan was to take away the Blackhawks' run game, and the strategy worked. The Leopards had as many as nine players near the line of scrimmage.
"Our defensive staff had a good plan coming in and our kids bought into it," Scarbrough said. "We preached all week that this was going to be a physical game and for us to win the football game, we had to out-physical Pea Ridge on the line of scrimmage."
Extra Points
• Ivy finished a solid season by rushing for 93 yards on 25 carries and scored both Pea Ridge touchdowns.
• Collie, who had more than 2,000 passing yards coming into the game, finished 10-of-16 for 138 yards and one touchdown.
• Fans were treated to a brilliant fireworks display at halftime.
Up Next: Malvern will host Clinton next week after the Yellow Jackets upset Pine Bluff Dollarway.
Sports on 11/22/2014