Have yourself a game, Jaime Malta.

The Wright City senior was more than effective on both sides of the ball last Friday, propelling the Wildcats to a 44-35 victory over Winfield in the opening round of Class 3 playoffs.

With the Wildcats down 35-28 in the fourth quarter, Wright City quarterback Sean McDonald connected with sophomore Will Janowski for a 42-yard touchdown pass to put the Wildcats within one, 35-34. It was Malta who came up big for the Wildcats on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, taking the direct snap and finding the end zone for the 36-35 lead. That came with 3:39 left in the game.

The Wright City secondary came through on Winfield’s next drive, not giving quarterback Colin Sutton many options to throw. The junior converted on just one two-yard pass in the series. His pass on fourth down was incomplete.

On Wright City’s next possession, Malta rumbled 60 yards for the touchdown to give the Wildcats a 42-35 advantage with 2:17 to play. McDonald found the end zone on the two-point conversion to slam the door on the Warriors. 

Wright City Head Coach Jeff Sargent said the two-point conversion play was one the Wildcats had worked on in practice all week.

“Basically, if we go for two and miss we are still up by seven, so there’s no point in actually kicking the extra point. So my thought process was we ran a play that we hadn’t run all game and that we’d worked on in practice all week. It worked to perfection,” Sargent said.

Malta rushed the ball five times for 77 yards. He also recorded a sack and a blocked punt. Before the Winfield game, Malta had 10 rushes all season for 61 yards.

“I haven’t really been used as a running back all year, but they hand me the ball and I will try and deliver,” Malta said. “I told the seniors at halftime, ‘This is it. It could be over for us.’ I have the determination and we have the drive and that’s what we do as Wildcats.”

After the two teams exchanged touchdowns early in the first quarter, the Wildcat defense was able to stifle a Winfield drive with 2:55 left in the first quarter. Malta was able to get his hands on a punt off Winfield’s Colin Sutton to give the Wildcats the ball at the Winfield 30-yard line. Two plays later, McDonald called his own number and scored on a 13-yard run to extend the Wildcat lead to 14-7.

Sargent said the game was really all about the 11 Wildcat seniors and commended Malta on his play in the game.

“He’s been a starter for three years and he’s been a great leader,” Sargent said of Malta. “He’ll be a tough guy to replace. The seniors earned this win tonight. Every single one of them contributed in their own way.”

McDonald had a solid evening directing the offense, completing 12 of 14 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns. The senior rushed for 90 yards and two scores. Cameron Cole had six receptions for 117 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown in the first quarter for the first Wright City touchdown of the game.

The Wildcats had a two-touchdown advantage with less than a minute left in the first half, but Sutton used his legs to cut the lead to 28-21 with: 50 to go in the half. Sutton rushed for 196 yards in the game on 26 carries.

McDonald’s lone blemish came with 38 seconds remaining in the second quarter, as his pass attempt was picked off by Winfield’s Branden Resto at the Wright City 12-yard line. Sutton made the Wildcats pay on the very next play with a touchdown run to tie the game at 28-28.

Winfield grabbed the 34-28 lead at the start of the fourth quarter on Sutton’s 20-yard touchdown run. Sutton had four touchdowns on the ground for Winfield.

The win moves the Wildcats to 6-4 on the year and a date with undefeated and top-seeded Blair Oaks in Jefferson City. Blair Oaks claimed a 52-0 victory in its first-round matchup against the Missouri Military Academy.