MARTINS FERRY — Purple power. Two games, two blowouts.

Martins Ferry, coming off a 55-0 shellacking of Huntington Express seven days prior, did more of the same to Malvern Friday night at the Dave Bruney Football Complex. Coach Justin Kropka’s high-octane Purple Riders dominated the Hornets via a 35-6 count.

Malvern entered the game on the strength of a 16-8 win over Valley Christian.

Ferry’s impressive win was produced by a combination of dominating offensive line play, an opportunistic defense and a heavy dose of Walkquem Cox.

The Purple’s efficient offensive line enabled the Purple Rider backs to rush for 310 yards on the night. Cox was the bell cow as the talented sophomore carried 24 times for 201 yards and two TDs.

Ferry’s defense was equally impressive as it limited the Hornets to just 47 yards on the ground while also producing a six-pointer courtesy of a 52-yard pick six from Gavin Mulvey.

“We have a lot of respect for Malvern. They are a quality program and a class bunch,” Kropka said. We are still correcting a lot of mistakes. Last week was really just like a scrimmage, so tonight was really our first real test. So some of the mistakes we made tonight we will clean up heading into next week.

“I was really happy with how we were able to run the ball. Our line did a nice job,” he added. “We knew Malvern has a nice passing attack. With that said, I have to give a big shoutout to senior Jermale Thompson. He hopped onto our scout team this week and simulated No. 3 (Roy Simmons). Jermale was a big reason we had four interceptions tonight.”

Ferry wasted no time in taking control.

After forcing a Malvern punt on the game’s first possession, the Purple Riders scored on their initial snap as Cox raced 44 yards to paydirt. Jacob Theaker added the PAT.

Ferry added to its lead thanks to an Elijah Roby interception which he returned 36 yards. A subsequent seven-play Purple drive was capped by a two-yard Colby Kropka run. Theaker’s PAT made it 14-0 with 9:44 left in the second quarter.

The Riders’ advantage grew to 21-0 on Malvern’s ensuing possession as Mulvey pilfered a Hornet pass and raced down the sideline for the score with 6:51 left in the half. Theaker again converted.

Malvern was able to reach paydirt in the late stages of the opening half on a 17-yard pass from Jaxon Jones to Simmons.

Ferry took the second-half kickoff and marched 65 yards on seven plays with Cox climaxing the drive from three yards out. Theaker made it 28-7.

The hosts dropped the curtain on the night’s scoring, putting together an elongated 13-play drive with Gunner Disher scoring from four yards out with 9:10 remaining. Theaker added his fifth PAT.

Colby Kropka displayed much savvy, completing seven-of-10 passes for 60 yards. Two of his incompletions were spikes in order to kill the clock.

Malvern’s Jones completed 14-of-25 passes for 157 yards. Simmons caught 12 of the tosses for 137 yards.

Martins Ferry returns to action Friday, making a four-hour trip to Coal City, WV., to face Independence High. The Patriots defeated Herbert Hoover, 37-34, in their season opener Thursday night.

“We have a tough one-month stretch coming up, starting next week. Independence will be a huge test,” Coach Kropka said. “They are the No. 1 team (Class AA) in the state. Plus it will be a 3-4 hour bus trip.

“We will find out a lot about ourselves next week, playing a very good team that is far away from home,” he added. “After that we still have a bunch more challenges on our schedule.”

The win was the 740th in Martins Ferry football program history. At halftime, the Purple Riders staged their Hall of Fame ceremonies.