HIGH SCHOOL: MALDEN SLOSHES BY 'JAYS IN 2A

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- At 6-feet and a rugged 245 pounds, Malden High School fullback John Matthews looks like he was made to run in the mud.

Wednesday night, Matthews got the opportunity. And the senior made Charleston pay as he left defenders scattered all over the Bluejays' rain-soaked field, bulldozing for 193 yards and four touchdowns as the Green Wave rolled to a 34-14 Class 2A sectional victory.

Malden, which improved to 8-3 with its second win of the season over Charleston, advances to Monday night's state quarterfinal game., where it will host Lutheran North.

Charleston, which started out the season with six straight losses before rallying to make the playoffs, ends the year at 4-7.

Although he received plenty of nice blocking, Matthews was a virtual one-man wrecking crew in a game that featured no passes by either team and was played in sloppy conditions because of extremely heavy rain both prior to the contest and during much of the game.

"I like this kind of weather," said a smiling Matthews, who carried the ball on 33 of Malden's 49 offensive plays. "I was able to run in it pretty good, and I got some great blocking."

Said Malden coach Mike Ivie, "All 10 of our guys blocked extremely well for John. And he's a load. He did a real good job of running the ball and holding on to the ball."

Matthews broke the 1,000-yard mark with his performance Wednesday, and Malden tailback Brandon Porter had already topped that total. Porter added 76 yards on 11 carries and scored the Green Wave's other TD Wednesday.

Charleston had a star running back of its own in Jordy Mixon, who rushed for 144 yards on 22 carries, pushing him past the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Mixon scored both Charleston touchdowns Wednesday and he also ran in a two-point conversion.

But Charleston hurt itself by not being able to hold on to the football. The Bluejays fumbled nine times and lost three of them, and they also botched two punts when snaps were either poor or mishandled and they never got the kicks off.

"The turnovers really hurt us," said Charleston coach Brent Anderson. "But they just whipped us up front. Our kids played as hard as they could and did what we asked, but they just outmatched us tonight."

The Bluejays began the game strong, driving 77 yards in just six plays and scoring on Mixon's 10-yard run. He also ran in the conversion, so it was 8-0 less than four minutes into the contest.

But Charleston would not score again until the closing seconds of the game as Malden gradually took control.

After taking over at the Charleston 14-yard line following one of the botched punt attempts, Matthews scored on the first play and he ran in the conversion to make it 8-8 late in the opening quarter.

Later in the period, the Bluejays fumbled and Malden recovered at the Charleston 39. EIght plays later, Matthews scored on a 4-yard run to put the Green Wave up for good at 14-8 early in the second quarter.

Charleston had a golden opportunity to at least tie the score before halftime, but the Bluejays lost a fumble after driving inside the Malden 10-yard line.

Malden began to pull away early in the third quarter, driving 65 yards to the end zone. Matthews scored on a 10-yard run and quarterback Conrad Ivie ran in the conversion to make it 22-8.

Late in the third period, Matthews scored from 11 yards out for a 28-8 lead and Porter's 1-yard run midway through the final period made it 34-8.

Mixon scored from a yard out with 23 seconds left for the final margin.

Malden finished with 305 total yards to 226 for Charleston.