English defense holds in win over Malden

LYNN – It was the type of defensive effort that down the road could lead to big things for the Lynn English football team come November.Every time the Bulldogs needed a big play on Friday at Manning Field against Malden, the defense came through as English scored 10 points in an 11 second span late in the third quarter and at the start of the fourth to take a 10-0 win over the Golden Tornadoes.”We can’t expect our offense to score 30 points in every game,” English coach Peter Holey said. “We have to learn, like (Friday), how to gut out some wins.”The Golden Tornadoes spent much of the night marching in between the 20’s. But like clockwork, the Bulldogs would come up with a sack or force Malden quarterback Jacob Martino into a harried throw.For English, it was a less than stellar offensive performance, being outgained 271-186 in the game, but Holey knew that it was going to be a challenge facing the visitors.”We didn’t have the tempo that we usually do,” Holey said. “And tip your hat to Malden for getting us that way. We’ve got to work on that. But the other parts of the team stepped up (Friday).”English got the ball to start and drove inside the Golden Tornado 20 but Jermaine Kelly’s pass was intercepted by Garvin Cius at the goal line. Malden then began a long march of its own as a 49-yard pass to Franklin Huynh got the ball to the English 20.The Bulldog defense then stiffened as four plays resulted in only six yards and a turnover on downs that kept the game scoreless after a quarter.Malden was on the march again at the outset of the second quarter but an ill-timed chop block penalty with the ball at the Bulldog 12 killed the drive and led to an eventual pooch punt.The teams would continue to trade punts through a relatively unexciting second quarter with Shawn Carlson picking off Kelly to close the half and send the teams to the locker room scoreless.”Our defense played unbelievable,” Holey said. “They moved the ball but didn’t score. And that’s a big step up for us.”The Golden Tornadoes had the ball to begin the second half and thanks to the hard running of O’Shane McCreath (14-102) they moved into scoring range again. But like in the first half, the Bulldog defense stepped up and stuffed Malden on downs at the five.The Bulldog offense then put together a sustained drive as Kelly’s 29 yard pass to Malcolm Brown-Simpson put English on the verge of taking the lead.A holding penalty momentarily set the drive back but Kelly’s fourth down keeper at the 20 kept the march going. Three plays later, P.J. Dorsey pounded in from the seven on the final play of the third quarter for an 8-0 lead after Lucas Harris’ conversion pass to Jeremy Lessard.Things went from bad to worse for Malden on the kickoff as McCreath bobbled the ball at the 10 and began backtracking. But the time he got his bearings, he was surrounded and tackled in the end zone for a safety.”The special teams made a couple of huge plays for us,” Holey said.