Krobinett@journalnet.com

MALAD - When they were done celebrating a 27-20 victory over Malad by singing the fight song at midfield, Aberdeen football players headed toward their locker room ready to start a new chant.

As they left the field, practically every one of them took a moment to brag about the Tigers' offensive line.

"We have the best line in the state," many of them exclaimed.

That was a debatable statement heading into Thursday's battle for the 2A Fifth District championship at Malad, but it's hard to argue now.

Aberdeen's offensive line came out motivated from the start and cleared the way for all kinds of big plays from the Tigers' playmakers. Senior running back Trevor Spence and his 181 yards and two touchdowns accounted for most of them, but Bo Duffin looked good scoring two touchdowns. Steven Elliott amassed more than 80 yards of offense as well.

Spence thought so much of his line's performance that he refused to take credit for his big night when asked what he did to pile up so many yards.

"My line really blocked well for me tonight," he said. "They deserve most of the credit. Our line was really motivated coming into this game. They heard a lot about how good Malad's line was, but I think they proved tonight that they're the best 2A line in the state."

Behind it, Aberdeen is now 6-0 and has clinched its district's No. 1 seed for the playoffs. The Tigers also have clinched at least a share of the regular-season district title. All the Tigers need to do to claim it outright is defeat Soda Springs (0-6, 0-2) on Oct. 25.

Malad coach McKay Young, whose team suffered its first lost of the season and dropped to 5-1, said he didn't hold out much hope for Aberdeen losing again in the regular season.

"They gave us a good wake-up call today," he said. "We thought our line was pretty good, and it is. But Aberdeen was really strong up front and beat us in that department."

Still, Malad kept the game close throughout. Aberdeen jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter behind a 13-yard touchdown run from Duffin and a four-yard touchdown pass from Duffin to Spence, but Malad put together a solid second quarter to pull within 15-7 at halftime.

The Tigers then pulled ahead 21-7 early in the third quarter on another Duffin run, but Malad came back with the second Kaden Goddard rushing touchdown of the game and a 23-yard touchdown catch by Braiden Jones from Goddard.

Helping the Dragons in that comeback was a recovered onside kick and a solid defensive performance, but ultimately Malad killed its chance at victory with turnovers. The Dragons coughed up the ball five times, and that gave Aberdeen tremendous field position and momentum.

"Those turnovers are what did us in," Young said. "You can't give the ball away five times and hope to beat Aberdeen. They're too good for that. They're the No. 1 team in the state."

The Tigers earned that praise most at the end of the game. Malad cut the score to as close as 21-20 following a failed two-point conversion try, but Aberdeen pulled farther ahead on a touchdown drive that ended with a one-yard score by Spence.

Then, after an interception by Elliott on Malad's ensuing possession, Spence and his offensive line ran out the clock without incident to put the game away.

That gave Aberdeen confidence, bragging rights and a district championship.

But Tigers coach Cory Hollingsworth said that won't be enough to please his team. Aberdeen has its goals set much higher.

"Winning a district title is great, and it was one of our goals," he said. "But it was only our first goal. What everyone on this team really wants is a state title. That's what we've always been aiming for."

Aberdeen 12 3 6 6 - 27

Malad 0 7 7 6 - 20

A - Bo Duffin 13 run (kick failed)

A - Trev or Spence 4 pass from Bo Duffin (run failed)

M - Kaden Goddard 1 run (kick good)

A - Miguel Vilifana 23 field goal

A - Bo Duffin 1 run (run failed)

M - Kaden Goddard 1 run (kick good)

M - Braiden Jones 23 pass from Kaden Goddard (run failed)

A - Trevor Spence 1 run (run failed)

Rushing: Aberdeen - Trevor Spence 27-181, Aaron Schritter 5-12, Bo Duffin 9-34, Steven Elliott 4-14, Cody Snyder 8-25. Malad - 5-(-1), Braiden Jones 7-65, Buddy Southwick 2-4, Jordan Schwartz 1-3, Kaden Goddard 4-17.

Receiving: Aberdeen - Trevor Spence 1-4, Nick Wynn 1-13, Steven Elliott 2-64. Malad - Riker Carter 1-23, Buddy Southwick 1-15, Jade Clark 2-23.

Passing: Aberdeen - Bo Duffin 4-9-81-1-1, Aaron Schritter 0-1-0-0-0. Malad - Kaden Goddard 4-14-61-1-3.