Football: VB's Malone goes the extra mile

The Van Buren Pointers have two wins this season, and senior safety Miles Malone has had gigantic defensive plays in both. “He’s kind of been that kid that’s made that play when we’ve had to have it,” Van Buren head coach Greg Werner said. “He’s excelled in that area. He’s made some plays, and we haven’t been making a lot of those.” In Friday’s 32-14 win against Rogers Heritage, Malone had an interception with 1:21 left in the first half that kept the War Eagles from adding to their lead. “They were empty, and had three on one side and two of the other,” Malone said. “We were playing empty two, which is just quarters. I had coverage down the middle of the field. I saw the three go verticals on this side, and I just watched the quarterback’s eyes and he threw it over there.” Three plays and 36 seconds later, Van Buren’s offense put the Pointers up for good at 18-14, and the defense got another interception, the first of two by Kameron Collins. “Scoring right before half was big for us, and then holding them out when they got down close,” Werner said. “That kind of set the tone for the second half.” Van Buren’s defense forced turnovers on five straight possessions by Heritage, including the first on Malone’s interception. In addition to three interceptions by the defense, Van Buren also forced Heritage into two turnovers on downs. Malone had a part in one of them as well, knocking down a fourth-down pass with 4:17 left in the third quarter with Heritage at Van Buren’s 35. “I was just helping out with the corner,” Malone said. “The corner had him covered, and I just went over and knocked the ball down.” In Van Buren’s 25-18 win against Siloam Springs, Malone ended the Panther’s final chance at a win with a late interception. This is Malone’s first season to play defense on the high school level. “In spring ball, coach asked me to play safety and it just started off there,” Malone said. “I like it a lot, it’s fun. I like to hit people. There’s just something about it.” Malone, who used to play receiver, still plays on offense occasionally at tight end and caught a pass for seven yards against Heritage. “He’s been an offensive guy and now, he’s our starter at safety,” Werner said. “He’s our tight end. We don’t use a tight end a lot, but he had a big catch on third and short. He’s done a little bit of everything for us.” The switch to defense was fine for Malone. “You’ve got to see a lot more on defense,” Malone said. “At receiver, you just run your route. On defense, you have to make your reads and make the right coverages.” The transformation to defense started with Malone's maturity heading into his senior year. “In the spring, everybody is eligible as far as where they’re going to play,” Werner said. “We put him at safety on defense and immediately, he took to it. Immediately, he looked good. He’s done a good job. He’s got the body style, and over the offseason he got a lot stronger. He got a lot quicker. We talked, and we thought with his strength and speed, he might be a good safety for us. He has the ability to make plays for us.” Before spring football, though, Malone took a break from football and school when he went on a mission trip with his church to India over spring break. “It was really cool to minister and share the gospel with people who have never heard the name of Jesus,” Malone said. “Over here, there’s a church on every corner. Over there, you’re not supposed to share the gospel. The village we went to was really poor. We’d ask the people if they’d heard the name Jesus, and they’d say ‘no.’ It was really cool to minister to them.” Malone’s dad, Mark, has taken several mission trips, including one with Malone’s older brother, Mickey. “My dad, he’s gone five or six times and my brother went once,” Malone said. “They both really liked it a lot. I was just trying to see what it was like. My dad asked me if I wanted to go when they got back from the trip the summer before. I thought about it since then. It was cool, especially to go with my dad and Mickey for the first time.”

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FOOTBALL: VB'S MALONE GOES THE EXTRA MILE

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Times Record | 10/13/2016