Page 8 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 2, 2026 SAVED BY THE ‘BELL’: Malden High holds off late surge to outlast Lowell Catholic, 28-26 Tornado captain Dante Bell shines defensively; star runner Jayden McGuffie runs for 3 TDs, 237 yards in win By Steve Freker T hey played hard enough to win and for most of the night, well enough to win, but they still had to be “saved by the bell” at the end to secure the victory. Senior co-captain Dante Bell knocked away a would-be game-tying conversion pass on the last play of the game to extinguish Lowell Catholic’s last flicker of hope and seal Malden High’s 28-26 home victory at Macdonald Stadium on Friday night. Bell was one of the defensive stars for Malden with 2 sacks, 3 tackles for losses and 5 tackles overall for the Golden Tornados. Star record-setting running back Jayden McGuffie took care of most of the heavy lifting on offense with still another night to Lowell Catholic Malden High 0 remember: 3 touchdowns, 237 yards rushing on 15 carries and a 2-point conversion. The win lifted Malden to 2-1 overall to start the season, setting up a long-awaited resumption of one of its oldest rivalries. Tonight (6:00 kickoff), Malden once again will take on longtime former Greater Boston League rival Everett (2-1) at Macdonald Stadium. Malden and Everett have not played since 2023, when the Crimson Tide went independent. As for the September 25 game with Lowell Catholic, here’s a new “adage for the ages” to try on for size: “Philanthropy has no seat at the table in football.” As the guard at the Emerald City gates from “The Wizard of Oz” famously once said, shortly after greeting Dorothy and the crew, “Not MALDEN 28, LOWELL CATHOLIC 26 0 0 22 8 0 18-26 6-28 First Quarter No Scoring Second Quarter Malden — Jayden McGuffie 38-yard run (Jayden McGuffie run) Malden — Jayden McGuffie 20-yard run (rush failed) Malden — Nathan Schonton 34-yard pass from Josh Bly (McGuffie run) Third Quarter Lowell Catholic — Janzel Trinidad 5-yard run (Teddy Chege pass from Janzel Trinidad) Fourth Quarter Lowell Catholic — Jimmy McGonagle 5-yard run (run failed) Lowell Catholic — Teddy Chege 1-yard run (pass failed) Malden — Jayden McGuffie 55-yard run (rush failed) Lowell Catholic — Janzel Trinidad 1-yard run (pass failed) *** MALDEN FOOTBALL 2026 (2-1 OVERALL, 0-0 GBL) Friday, 9/11, Malden 26, Lynn Tech 20 Friday, 9/18, Peabody 44, Malden 6 Friday, 9/25, Malden 28, Lowell Catholic 26 Friday, 10/2, Malden vs. Everett, 6:00 p.m. (HOMECOMING) Friday, 10/9, Malden at Chelsea, 6:00 p.m. Friday,10/16, Malden vs. Lynn Classical, 6:00 p.m. Friday, 10/23, Malden at Manchester-Essex, 6:30 p.m. Friday, 10/30, Malden at Somerville, 6:00 p.m. 11/5-11/7, MIAA Playoffs 11/12-11/14, MIAA Playoffs Thursday, 11/26, Malden vs. Medford in the 139th Thanksgiving Game, 10:00 a.m. nobody, not nohow!” It took the host Malden High Golden Tornado football squad about 11 minutes and 50 seconds of the fourth quarter — which lasts exactly 12 minutes. After building what looked like a safe, 2-touchdown lead entering the final quarter, Malden saw the lead — and nearly the game — slip away. Lowell Catholic dug into its special teams bag of tricks and scored two quick touchdowns. Both of the scores were aided and abetted by some exquisitely executed onside kicks following, one to start the fourth quarter and second after the Raiders had scored to cut the Malden lead to 22-20 with about eight minutes left to play. Jayden McGuffie scored his 3rd TD for Malden’s eventual game-winning points. Malden did snap out of its second-half nap with another great run by Guess Who? Jayden McGuffie, who busted free up the right sideline in front of the Malden bench for a 55-yard touchdown sprint, his third TD of the night, to make it 28-20, Malden with 4:28 left on the clock. It turned out to be the eventual game-winning points. At that point, Malden needed one big stop to clinch its second win of the season. That philanthropy thing came back again, unfortunately. Lowell Catholic ate up most of the rest of the clock in its final drive of the night, using a miraculous catch by Teddy Chege to set up the Raiders with a first down at Malden’s 20-yard line with 1:18 left to play. All that was left was Janzel Trinidad’s TD run on the last clocked play of the game and #17 Bell’s last-second heroics. This one was slow-paced early with a scoreless first quarter, as both teams traded turnovers. It turned quickly into an “All-Malden” and “All-Jayden” second quarter. McGuffie scored on both of Malden’s next two possessions Malden senior captain Dante Bell (17) was a demon on defense all night — shown here with a big fourth-quarter sack. He made the play of the night at the end of the game, saving a two-point conversion try. (All Advocate Football Photos/Henry Huang) on runs of 38 and 20 yards, adding a two-point conversion after his first TD, for a 14-0 Tornado lead. Tornado junior split end Nathan Schonton then scored his first touchdown of the year on a 34-yard completion from junior Josh Bly to make it 20-0, and McGuffie’s second conversion made it 22-0, which stood as the halftime score. The third quarter was scoreless until Lowell Catholic’s offense woke up from its slumber to score late on a Trinidad 5-yard run and Chege pass for two more points and a 22-8 score. *** EXTRA POINTS: Malden Head Coach Witche Exilhomme was pleased with the effort and the win, but dissatisfied with some of the execution, particularly on special teams. “We played hard and came up with some big plays when we really needed them, on both sides of the ball,” Coach Exilhomme said. “We needed Jayden [McGuffie] bigtime on offense and defense tonight and that was probably his best two-way game ever. If he wasn’t breaking a big run, he was making a great tackle at linebacker. They [Lowell Catholic] did some damage on … onGolden Tornado record-setting running back Jayden McGuffie (2) runs for his third and final TD of the night, the eventual game-winning points in a 2826 win over Lowell Catholic. (All Advocate Football Photos/Henry Huang) side kicks, but sometimes the ball just bounces the other way on those plays. We will work on that.” Exilhomme said the leadership of senior captains Dante Bell, quarterback Josh Dionne and Noah Granderson was key this week. Granderson, 6-5, 330, had a solid two-way game on the line, leading the blocking offensively and then on defense. Ryann Vieira (12) also played well defensively as did Bly (4) and sophomore Brendan Gillis (21), both at defensive back, and senior Jamaurie Brown (5) at linebacker.
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