RAMS POST WILD WIN OVER WAVE

The Scott City Rams earned a hard-fought victory and lots of respect with a 40-33 win over rival Malden at Scott City on Friday night.

The Rams, who lost several key players through graduation, came in as underdogs to a Green Wave team that had most of its starters returning from last year.

It was a great offensive show from both teams, but Scott City's defense rose to the occasion at critical times to protect their lead in the late going.

Leading the attack for the Rams were running backs Marcus Klund and Brad Glenn. Klund romped for 209 yards and two touchdowns on 35 carries. Glenn ran for 157 yards on 18 carries with touchdown runs of 11 and 56 yards.

The Rams offensive line opened huge holes all night to give the backs running lanes. Most of the time Klund and Glenn were tackled deep in the Malden secondary.

Quarterback Michael O'Brien threw for one score, connecting with wideout Jacob Ressel on a 37-yard pass play in the first quarter.

The other Ram touchdown was scored by defensive back Jamie Heisserer on a fumble runback from the Malden 8-yard line in the third quarter.

Although defense was shaky on both sides of the ball, the Rams stiffened when they needed to stop Malden. A key defensive stand was made at the seven-minute mark of the fourth quarter when the Rams held Malden out of the end zone. The visitors were sitting pretty with a first down on the Rams' 5 and a chance to tie with the score at 40-33. Three rushes and an incomplete pass netted zero yards and the Rams took over on their own 5.

Scott City moved the ball down the field with ease, eating up valuable time on the clock. At the Malden 13-yard line, the Rams lost a fumble and Malden had one last chance with about two minutes left in the game.

The Green Wave moved the ball to the Scott City 40, when a pass attempt by quarterback Conrad Ivie was intercepted by Rams defensive back Trevor Heisserer with 1:16 left on the game clock. From there it was just a matter of running out the final seconds to secure the win.

The teams were tied 27-27 at halftime.

Malden went ahead 33-27 on a 19-yard run by Brandon Porter in the third quarter. Scott City answered with Heisserer's fumble recovery for a 34-33 lead. The Rams upped their advantage to 40-33 on a Klund 4-yard TD run.