NEW MADRID, Mo. -- There may be new faces calling plays on the Malden sideline. But the results remain the same.
Under the leadership of new head coach Kevin Collier and offensive coordinator Charlie Vickery, the often run-heavy Green Wave added a new wrinkle to their offensive playbook Friday night.
Malden quarterback Pete Brown threw for a career-high 135 yards and two scores and Tray Stevenson ran for 154 yards and three touchdowns as Malden beat host New Madrid Central 50-12 in the season-opener.
The Green Wave, the No. 12 ranked team in the preseason Missouri Media poll, recorded their 36th successive win over a SEMO Conference opponent and sixth straight against the Eagles.
"What we've wanted to do all summer is make people respect the pass and look at us as a threat all over the field," Collier said. "We created a situation where they were stretched out, covering a lot of stuff all over the field, and I thought each one of our offensive groups handled everything perfectly no matter what play was called."
Malden's defense didn't allow a point until the final minute of the second quarter. The Green Wave forced three turnovers and held the Eagles to 171 yards from scrimmage.
Malden, meanwhile racked up 476 total yards, including 341 on the ground, scored on its first five offensive drives and got touchdowns from four different players.
After forcing a turnover on downs on the opening drive, a Central penalty extended Malden's initial possession. Two plays later Brown hit Broddric Annesser over the middle to convert a third-and-16 before finishing off the seven-play, 36-yard drive with a 15-yard run into the end zone.
The Green Wave defense then forced a Central three-and-out which led to Stevenson's first score of the night five plays later from 7 yards out to push the lead to 16-0 with 6 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first quarter.
Seven seconds later senior Wade King forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to set up Malden at the Eagles 30-yard line.
Senior Malcom McBride got in on the scoring, diving into the end zone from 9 yards out for a 23-0 advantage at the 5:44 mark. McBride finished with 38 yards on eight carries.
"Our backs ran well today," Collier said. "They're exciting to watch. Both Tray and Malcom are hard to tackle and they run with a low center of gravity."
Central starting quarterback Grae Palmer completed his first pass of the night to Chase Silman three plays later after his receivers dropped his first three attempts. But just as Silman crossed midfield Annesser stripped the ball from behind allowing Malden senior Drew Ryan to pick up the fumble and return it to the Eagles 30.
Malden overcame two 10-yard penalties before Stevenson capped the first quarter with another 15-yard TD run.
"The defense did some good things," Collier said. "We put them in some bad situations a couple of times and they made some plays."
Central was forced to punt at the start of the second quarter and pushed Malden back to its own 42-yard line. After runs of 14 and 26 yards from Stevenson and McBride, Brown hit Annesser on an out route for a 13-yard touchdown and a 36-0 lead with 10:05 before halftime.
The senior duo connected once more just before halftime on a 38-yard pass and catch down the left seam on fourth-and-3. Annesser finished with 77 receiving yards to lead the Green Wave.
"On specific series we found a lot of rhythm," said Brown, who was 6 of 16 through the air and rushed for 71 yards. "We worked all summer and he's always somebody I'm going to be looking for."
The shutout didn't last long as Central forced the only Malden punt of the game then opted for a change at quarterback. Christen Phillips replaced Palmer under center and marched down field with two passes for 47 yards including a 32-yarder Tra Ranson, which cut the lead to 43-6 at the break.
Though they gave up 175 yards in the air, Malden's defense held Central to negative yardage on the ground. Their biggest stop of the night came in the first quarter when the Eagles were still scoreless, but had marched to the Green Wave's 1-yard line 7 minutes before halftime.
Malden eventually backed the Eagles back to the 9-yard line before taking over on downs.
"We take a great deal of pride on our goal-line defense and not giving up stuff inside the 10," Collier said. "That's a really big deal and our kids take a lot pride in that."
With a running clock in the second half, Malden milked it by running 17 plays.
With 54 seconds left, Stevenson took his final carry 4 yards and into the end zone to wrap up the Green Wave's scoring.
Palmer returned as quarterback in the fourth for the Eagles and hit Jacob Keene for a 24-yard score against Malden's second unit to set the final score.
"It's week one," Fullhart said. "This isn't going to make or break our season. We've got some things to work on, but one thing I tell my kids is, 'it's never as good and you think or as bad as you think.'"
Malden isn't content either. The Green Wave gave up 80 penalty yards, which could costly when they host Caruthersville next week.
"Those are drive killers," Collier said of the penalties. "It wasn't a lack of hustle and those things are fixable, but in a different type of game, those are the mistakes we can't make."