Page 12 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 16, 2026 ‘ALL-JAYDEN, ALL THE TIME’: McGuffie scores 4 TDs, including ‘a First’ in shutout win vs. Chelsea Record-setting running back racks up a defensive score for first time in his career at linebacker By Steve Freker H e’s played just under 2 1/2 seasons of what will be a 4-season career and everyone probably figured the spectacular accomplishments of Malden High junior Jayden McGuffie have left him plumb out of “firsts.” Well, think again. On just the second play of the night on Friday, McGuffie did something he has never done before in a Malden uniform. After assisting on a tackle of a Chelsea running back with fellow linebacker Jamaurie Brown, the ball came loose. McGuffie scooped it up, found open green right away and sprinted 47 yards for a TD with the recovered fumble cradled in his right arm. Chalk “Score a Defensive Touchdown” off Jayden’s “Tornado Football Bucket List.” However, he was far from finished scoring and ended up with still another prolific night, adding 3 rushing touchdowns, to make it 4 on night, to go along with 3 2-point conversions — 30 points in all from #2 — in a 45-0 win over Chelsea. For the night, McGuffie broke the 200yard rushing mark for a game for the 12th time in 27 games played (also a school record) and rose to 713 yards rushing in just five games. Having already broken the 4,000-yard mark for his career, McGuffie improved to 4,237 yards on 472 carries in 26 games played. With the win, Malden improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in its Greater Boston League opener. Head Coach Witche Exilhomme’s Golden Tornado squad hosts Lynn Classical Friday night at Macdonald Stadium in Malden (6:00 p.m. kickoff) before heading on the road against non-leaguer Manchester-Essex (Friday, Oct. 23) and GBLer Somerville (Friday, Oct. 30). McGuffie certainly got Malden off to a great start, scoring defensively on “Play #2” of the evening. He kept the party going on Malden’s first offensive drive when he carried the ball five times in a row, the last time finishing off a 29-yard touchdown run over the right side of the line. His conversion made it 16-0. The Malden defense — particularly senior linebacker Jamaurie Brown — then took over again. On a punt attempt on Chelsea’s next possession, the snap went awry; the punter tried to cover it up in the end zone, but MALDEN 45, CHELSEA 0 Malden Chelsea 22 0 BOXSCORE 8 0 8 0 JAYDEN TIME: Junior running back Jayden McGuffie (2) ran for 214 yards and scored 4 touchdowns in Friday’s win on the road versus Chelsea. (Advocate File Photo) 6-45 0-0 First quarter Malden — Jayden McGuffie 47-yard fumble return (Jayden McGuffie run) Malden — Jayden McGuffie 29-yard run (Jayden McGuffie run) Malden — Jamaurie Brown recovered fumble in the end zone (rush failed) Second quarter Malden — Jayden McGuffie 13-yard run (Jayden McGuffie run) Third quarter Malden — Jayden McGuffie 73-yard run (Jayden McGuffie run) Fourth quarter Malden — Arioc Eke, 22-yard run (rush failed) Brown was there to cover it up for six more Malden points and a 20-0 lead. McGuffie scored two more TDs: a 13-yard run in the second quarter and then a long one, 73 yards, for a score in the third quarter to stretch the lead out for Malden. Arioc Eke scored his second TD of the season — and second in as many games — on a 22-yard run in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring. He scored on a long kickoff return TD last week in Everett. *** EXTRA POINTS: In a “Tornado Development Update,” Malden’s JV Football team, coached by Kevin Isaza, Gandy Louisne and Ken Melanson, picked up their first win of the year on Saturday, 30-6 over Chelsea at Macdonald Stadium. Arioc Eke scored three TDs for Malden in the win… On Wednesday night, the Malden Middle School 7th-8th Grade Football Team improved to 2-1 with a 35-0 win over visiting Woburn at Macdonald Stadium in Malden... With the two defensive scores, one by fumble return and the other on the botched punt attempt, the dual “D” tallies was the first time this has been accomplished in several seasons under Head Coach Witche Exilhomme’s six seasons.... “We have been waiting for a game like that from our defense for quite some time,” Coach Exilhomme said. “It was great to see such a big game from a senior Jamaurie Brown leading us. Jamaurie [Brown] has played very consistently for us all season and this was one of his biggest games.” In addition to the first defensive score of his career, Brown recorded 7 tackles, 5 for loss and 2 sacks of the Chelsea quarterback. “We are still very much in the hunt for a playoff berth and that zero defensively and the point differential with our offensive scoring were big factors on both sides of the ball,” the sixth-year head coach said. “We have to keep that momentum going this week [against Lynn Classical]. It just became our biggest game of the year, this Friday night.” *** MALDEN FOOTBALL 2026 (3-2 OVERALL, 1-0 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: Everett 35, Malden 6. Friday, 10/9: Malden 45 Chelsea 0. Friday,10/16: Malden vs. Lynn SPORTS | SEE PAGE 13
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