Malden football team takes down Scott City 47-41 in overtime

Friday's season-opening football game between Scott City and Malden couldn't have started out in much wilder fashion.

The teams combined for four touchdowns in the first 2 minutes, 27 seconds of play.

Things never really slowed down the rest of the night as visiting Malden squeezed out a 47-41 overtime win.

"It was a pretty crazy game," said Malden junior Raymond Wilson, whose third touchdown of the contest, this one in overtime, ended things. "They gave us a fight."

That was something the Rams were proud of after last year's 50-14 season-opening loss at Malden. Both squads ended the campaign 2-8.

Scott City's Garett Schaefer finds running room on his way to scoring a touchdown on a kickoff return against Malden on Friday at Scott City. (Fred Lynch)

"That team beat us like a drum last year," Scott City coach Jim May said. "We stood toe to toe with them. Our kids played their guts out."

Still, May lamented one he felt got away.

"We just made too many mistakes," he said.

While the Rams came away disappointed, the fans got their money's worth. And then some.

Four more touchdowns in the final 3:19 of the second quarter -- including two over the last 9.6 seconds -- accounted for a 27-27 halftime tie.

Scott City defenders try to block a successful extra point kick by Malden during the first quarter Friday. (Fred Lynch)

Malden appeared to take control with the first two touchdowns of the second half, but the Rams scored twice in the final 6:53 to force overtime at 41-41.

"We battled," said Scott City senior tailback Garett Schaefer, who rushed for 205 yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns while kicking five of six extra points. "They stomped us pretty bad last year. We stood toe to toe with them."

Schaefer said he never had played in an overtime game.

"It was something different," he said.

In overtime, each team gets equal possessions from the opponent's 25-yard line until the tie is broken.

Scott City's Austin Atchley scores his team's first touchdown during the first quarter Friday.

Scott City was on offense first and failed to pick up a first down.

Then it was Malden's turn on offense, with the Green Wave needing any points to end things.

Facing fourth-and-1 from the 16-yard line, Wilson found a huge hole up the middle and raced untouched to the end zone.

"It was a pretty big hole," Wilson said.

Scott City forged overtime when senior fullback Alex Eichhorn scored from 3 yards out with 1:46 left. Schaefer's fifth PAT made it 41-41.

That came after the Rams recovered an onside kick following Schaefer's 41-yard touchdown run with 6:53 remaining.

"Both teams kept battling," Eichhorn said.

Eichhorn had to battle through cramps that kept him on the sidelines for most of the second half, although he returned late.

"Bad," Eichhorn said of his cramps. "I was mad as heck over there. I was happy to get back in."

Eichhorn rushed for 118 yards on just 11 carries, including a 60-yard run on the game's first offensive play that set up an early Scott City touchdown.

But Eichhorn carried just three times for nine yards after halftime.

The first of two touchdown passes by senior quarterback Jamie Scholz, an 8-yarder to junior Austin Atchley, gave Scott City a 7-0 lead just 1:36 into the contest.

Wilson returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown and a 7-7 tie.

Schaefer answered that score by going 92 yards on the following kickoff.

On Malden's next offensive play, sophomore quarterback Tanner Murphy threw a short pass in the flat to senior Quentin Jackson, who raced 66 yards to make it 13-13 with 9:33 left in the first quarter.

Things settled down, but only for a while.

Eichhorn's 3-yard touchdown with 3:19 left in the second period made it 20-13.

Malden answered with a touchdown at the 1:04 mark, the drive aided by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on Scott City.

Schaefer caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Scholz with just 9.6 seconds left to put the Rams up 27-20.

Malden wasn't yet done for the half as two more 15-yard penalties burned the Rams.

First Scott City was flagged for excessive celebrating after Schaefer's touchdown, with the yardage being assessed on the kickoff.

After a decent return, the Green Wave had possession on their 45-yard line with just 1.8 seconds left. Time expired during a 15-yard run, but Scott City was whistled for a horse-collar penalty, giving Malden one final play from the 25-yard line.

Murphy scrambled up the middle, cut to the left sideline and scored for a 27-27 halftime deadlock.

"We made two huge costly mistakes before halftime and gave them two touchdowns they shouldn't have had," May said.

The final statistics were about as close as the score. Malden had 453 yards of offense compared to 408 for Scott City.

Despite the setback, the Rams remain confident of a bounce-back season.

"I'm proud of us," Schaefer said. "I'm still looking really positive."

Malden 13 14 6 8 6 -- 47

Scott City 13 14 0 14 0 -- 41

First Quarter

SC -- Austin Atchley 8 pass from Jamie Scholz (Garett Schaefer kick), 10:24

M -- Raymond Wilson 75 kickoff return (Kyle Lemarr kick), 10:04

SC -- Schaefer 92 kickoff return (kick blocked), 9:49

M -- Quentin Jackson 66 pass from Tanner Murphy (kick failed, 9:33

Second Quarter

SC -- Alex Eichhorn 3 run (Schaefer kick), 3:19

M -- Wilson 4 run (Lemarr kick), 1:04

SC -- Schaefer 22 pass from Scholz (Schaefer kick), 00.9

M -- Murphy 25 run (Lemarr kick), 0:00

Third Quarter

M -- Lemarr 2 run (kick blocked), 9:59

Fourth Quarter

M -- Percy Johnson 31 run (Wilson run), 10:35

SC -- Schaefer 41 run (Schaefer kick), 6:53

SC -- Eichhorn 3 run (Schaefer kick), 1:46

OT

M -- Wilson 16 run

M SC

First downs 19 17

Rushes-yards 46-353 47-349

Passing yards 100 59

Passes 5-6-0 5-10-0

Punts 1-30 4-35

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 4-1

Penalties-Yards 4-30 8-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Malden, Johnson 6-124, Wilson 11-88, Murphy 10-65, Lemarr 12-61, Justin Rowe 5-29, Patrick Wilson 1-1, team 1-minus 5. Scott City, Schaefer 29-205, Eichhorn 11-118, Hunter Griffith 2-14, Travis Phillips 4-14, team 1-minus 2.

PASSING -- Malden, Murphy 5-6-0-100. Scott City, Scholz 5-10-0-59.

RECEIVING -- Malden, Jackson 1-66, Lemarr 2-12, Johnson 1-17, P. Wilson 1-5. Scott City, Atchley 3-33, Schaefer 2-26.