THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 2, 2022 Page 15 Juniors beat seniors in Malden High School Golden Tornadoes Powderpuff Flag Football game By Tara Vocino T he MHS juniors beat the seniors, 18-0, during the Malden High School Golden Tornadoes Flag Football Powderpuff game at Macdonald Stadium last Wednesday. Quarterback Peyton Lightbody (in back) and Center Ava Conroy got into position during last Wednesday’s Malden High School Golden Tornadoes Powderpuff Flag Football game at MacDonald Stadium. The juniors won against the senior class. Mayor Gary Christenson did a coin toss. (Courtesy photo, Mayor Gary Christenson) The juniors played against the seniors. Black Team, pictured from left to right: Front row: Kennedy Clark, Giselle Dessert, Aline Dao, Victoria Nguyen, Beatriz Santos and Abby Morrison; back row: Ryan Coggswell, Jayden Fernezan, Deuel Obdeus, Jayden Caplis, Julie Grillon, Shannon Votaw, Victoria Gammon, Ramneet Chahal, Marie Laguerre, Grace Sewell, Aamaya Johnson, Shuyi Chen and Coach Kristen Kirby; bottom row: Mindy Nguyen, Ayla Gomes, Tia Sljuka, Rachel Luciano and Aimee Castro; top row: Marlielys Castillo, Peyton Lightbody, Ava Conroy, Saura Rastore, Allison Yu and Nicole Zeng; in back: Coach/ Senior Advisor/Referee Michael Lightbody and Robert Schultz. GRAND-SLAM | FROM PAGE 14 ebration. Medford kicker Matt Wright – who’s got quite a leg on him – boomed the opening kickoff in the air to about the Malden 20-yard line. It took a bounce or two and made Exilhomme double back to about the Malden 4-yard line. He picked it up... but then dropped it and began to squirt away as the Medford kick coverage team swarmed to him. Miraculously for Malden, just as Exilhomme appeared to be getting knocked over like a bowling pin, he scooped the ball, made one juke and began racing up the right sideline, right in front of the team benches. Since just about the entire Medford team had converged on Exilhomme before he declined “sitting duck” status back at the 4-yard line, there was nothing ahead of him but wide-open Fenway Park left field grass. Ninety-five yards later, he was in the end zone, and Malden had remarkably duplicated its fantastic game-opening play from a year earlier. “Once I had the ball safe under arm and I saw an opening, I just ran as fast as I could,” Exilhomme, who has started every game on both offense and defense this year, recalled. “When I saw no one in front of me, I just ran a little harder to get to the end zone. I knew I could score and I did.” At a couple of points on his lengthy, 95-yard jaunt, Exilhomme himself appeared to have a bit of disbelief, as in just about every photo that was published of him after the game, his head seems to be on a swivel, looking behind to see if anyone was gaining on him. No one was. The opening fireworks was just the precursor to the career game Exilhomme would go on to have, as he would tack on two more touchdowns and lead the game in rushing (29 carries, 81 yards). His contribution to the Malden ground game was the foundation for the Golden Tornados’ gameplan. He also was a key “hot” receiver for sophomore classmate and quarterback Aidan Brett, who dumped off to him three times for what turned out to be drive-continuing receptions, all three of them on third down. For any college recruiters in the house that night, it was a bit of a coming out party for Exilhomme, a lanky, 6-2, 195 running back/linebacker who just recently turned 16 years old. Just a sophomore, the learning curve has a way to go for him and his teammates on the youth-driven Golden Tornados; he sure had an awfully big head start. Exilhomme’s head coach, second-year Top Tornado Witche Exilhomme, who starred for Malden a decade-plus ago, happens to be Kevin’s older brother. The Malden football boss, who also was a standout at American International College (AIC) from 2013-2016 and had some professional football looks, admits he’s a “hard marker” when it comes to evaluating his younger brother Kevin. But even he was able to give a solid “thumbs up” after Tuesday’s win. “I’m very, very happy for him [Kevin] and I’ll never tell him that,” said Coach Witche, with a smile. “He’s having a very good year and he’s going to shatter my records.” “For him to come out here, play tough, take this personal, clock in when we needed him, that’s very big. I’m very happy for him,” the Malden coach added. “I’m happy for his future, and I’m just fortunate and blessed to be a part of it and witness it from the sideline, not from the stands.” The way it looks right now, Kevin Exilhomme may have left more than the sophomore jitters in the rear-view mirror on his historic kickoff return TD, and it looks like smooth sailing with some great experience gained as the 2023 and 2024 seasons loom ahead.
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