MALDEN -- A long, historic winning streak came to an emphatic end Friday night.
Caruthersville gave Malden a taste of its own medicine and became the first team to topple the small-school giant in a regular-season game in four years.
The Tigers grounded the Green Wave offensive attack on all fronts while quarterback Charles Golliday burned Malden's secondary for three touchdowns and 256 yards as Caruthersville cruised to a 33-7 victory at The Swamp.
"We finally got over the hump," Golliday said. "We were real confident coming in, we knew we had a good chance to beat them and it finally happened."
Turnovers -- four interceptions and a fumble -- slowed Malden's offense all night as the Tigers outgained the Green Wave 444-265 and snapped their streak of 36 straight wins against SEMO Conference opponents. Malden's last loss to a conference team came against Caruthersville in the 2013 MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 championship.
"It stings pretty badly, it's very tough," Malden coach Kevin Collier said. "We knew it was eventually going to happened, I'm not the delusional type to think it could go on forever. However, we've got to bounce back and not get in the mindset of becoming accustomed to that."
Bryce Strawn had 11 catches for 124 yards and Chris Smith had five catches for 107 yards and three scores to lead Caruthersville (2-0). Golliday rushed for 94 more yards and a touchdown.
Running back Tray Stevenson had the only productive night for Malden, rushing 20 times for 156 yards and the lone touchdown.
Trailing 13-7, Malden (1-1) had a prime opportunity to get back into the game when Wade King recovered a fumble at his own 5-yard line and returned it to the Caruthersville 8. But with just 9 seconds remaining before halftime, the Green Wave only had time to run two plays which came up short of the goal line.
"That was pretty huge and we had a chance to stick it in," Collier said. "Even though we couldn't, we still felt like with it being a one-score game we had a chance to regroup, make adjustments like everybody does and make something happened."
Malden rattled off 46 yards in six plays to open the second half and moved into Caruthersville territory with 9 minutes, 55 seconds left in the third quarter. Following a sack and an intentional grounding penalty, the Green Wave were forced to punt and didn't see another successful drive the rest of the night.
"We had a couple mess-ups and hiccups and I really feel like that was the turning point in the game," Collier said.
Malden stopped Caruthersville on the ensuing drive but fumbled on its next possession to set the Tigers up on their own 45.
Five plays later Golliday found pay dirt, hitting Smith down the left sideline for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 3:49 left in the third to give Caruthersville a 19-7 lead.
Caruthersville forced a quick Malden three-and-out before Golliday capped a momentous third quarter with a 68-yard touchdown run down the left sideline to extend the advantage to 26-7.
Caruthersville's offensive line took over with the comfortable lead, opening holes for Deandre Davis, who kept the chains moving as the Tigers held the ball for 8:24 in the fourth quarter. Davis finished with 53 yards on 14 carries and scored on a 10-yard run with 6:44 to play.
The Tigers' offense found its rhythm through the air in the first quarter, starting with a pair of long touchdown connections from Golliday to Smith.
Smith took advantage when his defender fell down, then skirted the sideline for a 42-yard score. His second catch, for 40 yards, came from a perfect pass by Golliday that threaded double coverage.
"They did a really good job and it was hard to gauge what they did in their first week (on film)," Collier said of the Tigers' passing game. "We knew (Golliday) could throw well and but it was hard to tell how good they really were, and we saw it almost right away."
Malden forced a turnover on downs to start the second quarter and answered Caruthersville's air attack with the running game as Stevenson sprinted 80 yards down the right sideline to make it a one-score game 10:22 before halftime.
But the offensive prowess that has become synonymous with Malden football seemed to disappear as the night got longer. The Green Wave had just 24 passing yards and were stopped in the red zone three times in a loss that will likely leave them scratching their heads and itching for another shot at the Tigers come playoff time.
"We struggled offensively and there was a litany of different problems at different times," Collier said. "We didn't get the push we should've at times with the run, but we've got to clean our passing game in general. In turn that opens up our running game, but we cannot become one-dimensional if we want to have a chance against them down the line."