CARUTHERSVILLE -- The opportunities were there to be had, but for the second straight week, they got away.
Malden entered the fourth quarter of Friday's game against Caruthersville trailing 19-12. Then the Tigers' offense, led by senior running back Nicholas Moore, erupted.
Caruthersville outscored Malden 30-6 in the fourth quarter behind gashing runs of 40 and 50 yards by Moore, and sophomore running back Charles Tillman added a scoring burst of 63 yards on a jet sweep. Those plays allowed the Tigers to blow the game open en route to a 49-18 victory over the Green Wave.
The loss for Malden gave the Green Wave their first 0-2 start since 2008.
"We have to get more push out of the D-line, we have to be more aggressive, and we're probably going to have to start taking more chances," Malden head coach Kevin Collier said. "These are the kids we've got, and these are the coaches we've got, and we just gotta continue to get better.
"There were some aspects of the night that were better than last week, contrary to what the score said."
Despite some run-stopping struggles, senior quarterback Tye Miller was still a bright spot as the workhorse for the Malden offense, something the Green Wave can continue to build on moving forward. Miller ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for another. Miller accounted for 249 of Malden's 277 total yards.
Miller said he still needs to work on his timing on the passing game to give the offense a more well-rounded attack.
"I gotta get it out quicker or later, on time," Miller said. "I gotta work on that in practice."
Although he takes on the brunt of the workload for the offense, Miller said it doesn't tend to tire him out because of his preparation.
"I try to get in good shape before the season and then pride myself on being the least tired person in the second half and try to get everybody else on the team not tired and feeling the energy, which I don't think we did too good (a job) of tonight in the second half," Miller said.
Malden also didn't hurt itself with as many penalties as it did on opening night a week ago. The Green Wave had seven penalties for 45 yards on the night, down from 10 and 75 against New Madrid.
One of the biggest came on a 2nd and 8 at Caruthersville's 12-yard line. Malden had moved into scoring position from its own 35 when a false start put the team in second and long. That eventually led to a turnover on downs after the Tigers stopped Miller on 4th and 4 to preserve its 13-0 lead.
"That's a big deal," Collier said of the penalties. "Concentration in key moments. I truly believe a team learns how to win. Alabama doesn't jump offsides on 4th and 1. We've got to learn to believe in ourselves."
Penalties aren't unexpected for a young team in just its second week, and it was an area that should continue to improve from week to week.
Another area of improvement Collier saw was in the passing defense. The visiting Green Wave gave up 116 yards and a touchdown through the air with two interceptions, a vast improvement over last week's game against New Madrid Central.
The problem Collier wants to see fixed, though, is the run defense.
"We did some things better," Collier said. "We knew they would go deep. That hurt us last week. We shored that up, but now the next step is what are we going to do on the perimeter. We've got to stop that.
"There's only so many places you can put 11 guys, but we're going to keep working at it and we're going to spend a copious amount of time on it."
Moore broke off big runs consistently, averaging 9.3 yards per carry on his way to 214 yards on 23 attempts and three touchdowns. Moore's runs eventually wore on the Green Wave defense, and he was making plays for the Tigers every time they needed someone to step up.
With Caruthersville ahead 13-6 in the third quarter, Moore started to make his presence felt. He ran up the middle through the defense three times in a row for runs of 19, 17 and 12, the latter being his first touchdown.
Caruthersville head coach Jimmy Jackson loved what he saw from his power back, and he knew sequences like that energized the team and the fans.
"You know what that does," Jackson said. "Just picture yourself watching the game on the big screen on a Sunday you go crazy when your team (does it), and it's the same thing. It's draining for the other team, and it's good for us. We want that momentum."