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Mustangs defeat Jefferson

Malta to face Eastern champs in second round

The Malta Mustangs football team was able to protect their home field against the Jefferson Panthers last Saturday, November 2, but things will get tougher for the team who has to travel 270 miles south to take on the 9-0 Red Lodge Rams on Saturday, November 9.

The Rams were the Eastern Conference Champions this past season, and the team most recently edged out the Bigfork Vikings 28-25 in Red Lodge in their first playoff game on Saturday, November 2.

"They have a really experienced group of seniors as many of them have been starters since they were sophomores," Coach Nick Oxarart said. "They have a lot of size up front with their offensive line and defensive line. They are very athletic with a lot of team speed. On top of all that, they are a very physical football team."

Coach Oxarart then broke down the Ram's main schemes.

"On offense, they run a version of the double tight double wing. On defense they run a 5-3," Coach Oxarart said. "Red Lodge will be a tough team to beat and we will have to execute well on offense, take care of the football and tackle well in order to give ourselves a chance at moving on in the playoffs."

Malta only posted one turnover, while taking the ball away three times in their 26-7 win over the Jefferson Panthers last Saturday.

Junior quarterback Kooper Oxarart shared the key to the team's win over Jefferson.

"Our defense, definitely," he said. "We stepped up better than last week and we kicked butt."

Oxarart led Malta with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. He was 4-of-6 passing for 21 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Malta took plenty of time to run the ball, with over 50 rushing attempts that game.

"They are all track stars," Oxarart said. "I have met them all at state and they are fast. It is hard to keep up with but we got the job done."

The Mustangs displayed a few rushing plays for Oxarart and he was efficient on the ground rushing five times for 23 yards and one touchdown.

"I was thinking hang on to it and don't lose it because I didn't want to disappoint my teammates," Oxarart said.

Sophomore Rex Williamson and senior Tanner Smith provided a solid rushing attack for Malta with Williamson rushing for two touchdowns and 126 yards on 24 attempts and Smith rushing for 130 yards on 26 attempts. Smith displayed a hard, bruising style of running that game.

"It's playoff time," Smith said. "There is no tomorrow if you don't win."

Smith, who had made it to the second round in his freshman season, was excited to have another game to prepare for.

"I'm happy," Smith said. "It's our senior year and we have another week."

Senior Callan Mears had 32 yards on ten attempts.

Malta's offense was helped by aggressive line play on both sides of the ball, which featured the always tough to move Werk cousins Franky and Dwight, known in practice as the Werk Brothers.

"It's just about getting your blocks," Franky said. "Me and Dwight are big kids, so me and him take up a lot of space. They put us on the inside and it took a lot of blocking away from their offense. And on our offense, we all had solid blocks. We had a couple of slip-ups but it's nothing that can't be fixed."

Defensively Malta had three interceptions, including two from junior Jeramiah Benson and one from Pierce Mortenson who was sitting down while the ball fell into his hands.

"We were doing our reverse-twist and I tripped on Dwight's foot and I was on the ground," Mortenson said. "They threw it right to me and I was lucky that I caught it."

Benson was tasked with guarding Jefferson's biggest threat, Joey Visser, who scored Jefferson's lone touchdown and racked up 106 yards on eight catches. After giving up Visser's touchdown in the third quarter, Benson bounced back picking off two passes.

"It was hard," Benson said. "He is tall, he's fast, he's good, he's athletic."

Benson shared his thoughts on making it to the next round.

"The past two seasons, we hadn't gotten past the first round, so it's a good feeling," Benson said. "We are going to go down to Red Lodge and beat on some Rams. We are going to go win over there."

Senior Marcus Woods shared some of his speech to the team one day before the game at the Malta High School cafeteria.

"We thanked our coaches for coming out, helping us out and for teaching us," Woods said. "We also thanked our families for a great meal and handed them some Yeti cups with their names on the back and Mustang Football 2019-2020."

Scoring Summary against Jefferson:

1st Quarter: Rex Williamson 1 yard run (Williamson run) 5:04 8-0

2nd Quarter: Kanyon Stiles 15 yard pass from Kooper Oxarart (run failed) 11:21 14-0

Oxarart 6 yard run (pass failed) 3:06 20-0

3rd Quarter: Joey Visser 26 yard pass from Braden Morris (Dylan Root kick ) 5:49 20-7

4th Quarter: Williamson 2 yard run (run failed) 9:19 26-7

 

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