Ashton Calixte and Gabriela Parini Cordova also contributed to this article.
After a long year since Malden High School’s football last hit the field, they showed their dedication and hard work during offseason preparation with a 27-20 win against the Lynn-Tech Tigers on their first game of the season, making them 1-0. The weeks leading up to the game took much preparation as any new sports season takes, such as conditioning, watching film, scrimmages, and practicing plays.
The day before the game, there was a team dinner where every member of the football team was welcome to come together and enjoy a meal. The purpose was to “put them in an atmosphere where they can relax and have conversations with one another, hoping to build trust and make new friends in the process and to remind them that as a family, they eat together and they could go to war together the next day,” stated Witche Exilhomme, the current Head Coach of Malden football.
When arriving at MacDonald Stadium, the stands were packed with kids and adults eager to see what the football team had to offer in the new season. Malden fans were not disappointed. Throughout the first quarter, Malden came in strong with the team scoring three touchdowns back-to-back in a time span of four minutes and making two out of their three field goal attempts.
Malden kept that same determination to win through the next three quarters, which resulted in them scoring a touchdown and field goal that brought Malden’s score to 27.
“I feel very confident about this season because it’s what we’ve been building for the past four years and now that a lot of us are seniors we have a lot of experience under our belts and are ready to have a great season,” stated MHS senior Johnson Huynh, a key player to Malden’s first win of the season by scoring multiple touchdowns on punt returns.
Throughout the game, the defense showed their work in the offseason by making hard hits and tackles. “This offseason we did a lot of skill development and a lot of strength building,” stated Exilhomme. They also “recognized who’s going to play some key roles for us, so everyone pretty much has a role on the team and what is needed for them to accomplish the team goals.”
The new senior captains this year—James Hyppolite, Kevin Exilhomme, Matt Brito, Earl Feviver, and Aidan Brett were put into new leadership and new perspectives on how to be a captain of a team. “It’s key to make sure to stay positive when things go left and make sure everyone is on the same page and locked in all the way,” stated Brett.
With the Lynn Tech Tigers scoring 20 points throughout the span of three quarters, Malden secured their victory despite allowing the Tigers to come within striking distance at the end of the game. “The mindset is to win. The goal is to win and it’s to put Malden over that hump of losing and send the signal that the program is back and we would be ready to compete with anyone,” concluded Exhilhomme.
