Win at East Canton gives Hornets IVC North title

CCM Staff Report
Malvern continued its dominance in the Inter Valley Conference (IVC) North Division Friday with a 49-0 win over the East Canton Hornets at East Canton and secured a slot in post season action.
With the win, the Hornets retain ownership of the “Hornet” trophy, presented to the winning team in the rivalry game each year and cut into East Canton’s 11-game edge in the series (33-23-1), and was the fourth consecutive victory for the southern-most Hornets.

The win gave the Hornet seniors their third league title in four years, the first time in Malvern history.
“I’m very proud of this team,” said Coach Mike Chiurco. “We faced a daunting schedule early on, but we knew it would pay dividends as the season went on. We had an extremely dominating effort in our five league games outscoring those teams 210-20.”

East Canton was no match for the visitors in the final IVC contest of the year, putting 42 points on the score board in the first half.
Drake Hutchison put the winners on the board in first period with a 34-yard run.
Senior Ryan Runyon intercepted a Channie Subblefield pass and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown. He then added the extra point, his second of seven on the night, as the guests took a 14-0 lead.
Senior Dylan Phillips scored his first of three touchdowns in the second period on a 10-yard pass from quarterback Jared Witherow and followed it up with a score on a five-yard run. He would score the final touchdown of the game in the third period on a 21-yard pass from Witherow. Rodney Smith grabbed a 15-yard pass from Witherow for a second quarter score and Julius Gore picked up an East Canton fumble and returned it 33 yards to the end zone in the second period.

The visitors dominated every statistical category, almost tripling the hosts in total yards 302-113. Chiurco’s team picked up 218 yards through the air and 84 on the ground. Witherow completed 18 of 24 pass attempts. Phillips pulled in 10 of those passes for 124 yards. Smith grabbed three for 46 yards and Aiden Sprague two for 24 yards. Hutchison was the work horse in the backfield, gaining 62 yards on seven attempts.
Stubblefield completed six of 15 passes for 62 yards and threw two interceptions. East Canton turned the ball over seven times, compared to one, a fumble, for the visitors.
Hutchison led the defensive effort with seven tackles, one for a loss and one sack. Kyle Bossert was credited with six tackles, one for loss and one sack. Charles Motz had five tackles and an interception and Runyon three tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack to go along with the interception returned for a touchdown.

“We’re extremely proud of our guys and the buy-in they continue to show everyday,” Chiurco said.
With a 9-1 record, Malvern earned the No. 5 seed in Division VII, Region 25 and will host Southern Local (No. 12) Friday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the playoffs.
“We’re going to enjoy our achievements for the regular season and then we’ll get back to work Monday and get ready for the playoffs. We know we’ll have our work cut out for us. I don’t think we would have it any other way,” the coach stated.