Hayti Indians beat Malden in Bootheel Friday Night football match

MALDEN, Mo. - The Hayti Indians and the Malden Green Wave face off for a bootheel Friday Night Football matchup.

The night started off with Malden recognizing their seniors in the final home game of the season.

Hayti would accomplish a final win before the post season with a 46-22 victory over Malden.

Both teams, competing in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 assignment, looked to improve on their record in the last game of the 2024 regular season. Malden entered the match 1-7, but with a new found motivation coming off their first win in three years.

Hayti also came in after a 62-0 win over Pleasant Hope with Halfway last week.

The Indians were able to carry this scoring frenzy into this week, finding their first touchdown in the opening two minutes. The points came off a one yard rushing touchdown scored by junior J’Vonta Payne.

Later in the opening quarter, junior Dewayne Grant from Hayti intercepted a pass which led to another scoring drive. Payne rushed 30 yards for his second touchdown of the night with less than 20 seconds left in the first quarter.

Hayti led after the first 12 minutes 14-0.

Malden was finally able to respond in the second quarter. Sophomore Devin Lewis caught a 5 yard touchdown pass from Senior Miguel Redfoot and cut the lead to 14-6.

The Green Wave then forced and picked up a fumble to regain possession in hopes of potentially tying the game. However, Hayti senior Tim Hamilton picked off another pass and put the Indians in position to score again.

Junior Isaiah Love capitalized on this opportunity with a five yard rushing touchdown. He extended the score to 20-6 for Hayti.

To open up the second half, Hayti once again came out of the locker rooms strong. Love rushed in a 16 yard touchdown run to make it a 20 point lead.

However, Malden immediately responds with a 80 yard kick-off return by junior Tristin Moncreif. He put the Green Wave in position to score, where junior Dyentez Dobbins capitalized on a 10 yard touchdown reception. They make the score 26-14 after Moncreif completes the two point conversion.

Hayti was able to interrupt Malden’s comeback attempt after Ricky Bryant found a fumble and ran it in for a touchdown. He extended the Indian lead to 40-14 at the end of the third quarter.

Malden refused to go down without a fight as they scored the opening points of the final quarter. Another comeback attempt leads Redfoot to find Moncrief in the endzone from 30 yards out and bring the score to 40-22.

The fourth quarter was one filled with defense as both teams kept forcing each other to turn over possessions. There were four turnovers in the final minutes of play

Hayti won the defensive battle in the end with an interception which led to another 40 yard rushing touchdown for Love. He makes the final score 46-22.

Hayti improved their record to 4-5 on the season while Malden fell to 1-8. Both teams will later find out who they are pinned against in the first round of the Class 1 tournament in the upcoming week.