Mustangs fall to Red Lodge 35-6

The 2019 campaign ended for the Malta Mustangs football team in Red Lodge, as they fell 35-6 to the undefeated Red Lodge Rams on Saturday, November 9.

The Mustangs reached the quarterfinal game against the Rams after defeating the Jefferson Panthers 26-7 in the opening round of the State B Football Playoffs on Saturday, November 2.

After a successful 8-2 season, that ended with Malta ranked seventh in the state, Malta Head Coach Nick Oxarart reflected on his first season back at the helm.

"I enjoyed coaching these guys and I am very proud of the success we had this season," Coach Oxarart said. "This group was a lot of fun to coach. They become part of your family."

Coach Oxarart's words were evidenced by the team's post-game hugs after their final game.

"These guys treat my own children like family and I couldn't be prouder of the fine young men they are becoming," Coach Oxarart said. "I believe we created a lot of positive memories that will last a long time."

Coach Oxarart was especially grateful for this years' senior class consisting of Callan Mears, Tanner Smith, Marcus Woods, Franky Werk, and Ezra Judd, thanking them for their commitment to the team for the past four seasons.

Coach Oxarart was asked to describe the team using one word. The word he chose was perseverance.

"These guys kept battling through difficult situations in many different aspects," Coach Oxarart said. "These guys were able to battle through injuries. Many guys had to step up and learn new positions and they were able to handle it without hesitation."

In their most recent game, perseverance was seen even in the loss.

"Things didn't go well in the first half against Red Lodge and the field conditions were probably the worst I've ever seen," Coach Oxarart said. "These guys were able to battle hard in the second half and hold them scoreless when it would've been pretty easy to just give up. I'm really proud of the perseverance these guys showed throughout the season."

Though field conditions were rough against Red Lodge, Coach Oxarart knows that the Mustangs faced a tough team that had to battle through the same conditions.

"Red Lodge had an experienced and well-coached team," Coach Oxarart said. "They were able to execute their offense really well on the tough field conditions. They jumped to an early lead and had the momentum that we had trouble getting back."

Where Malta failed to capitalize, Red Lodge stayed disciplined.

"They are a solid football team with a lot of team speed and they were very physical and tackled really well," Coach Oxarart said. "We missed a lot of tackles and missed some opportunities that we didn't capitalize on."

Having an 8-2 campaign is something many teams around the state for years and Coach Oxarart shared what made the team so successful on the offensive end.

"Our team was able to have a lot of success running the football against most teams," Coach Oxarart said. "Our offensive line and tight ends (Beau Simonson, Parker Mortenson, Franky Werk, Pierce Mortenson, Peyton Jones, Cordel Salsbery and tight ends Callan Mears and Jeramiah Benson) did a great job blocking and opening up lanes for our running backs (Tanner Smith, Rex Williamson and Cash Salsbery) to have a lot of success."

Though the team did not throw the ball many times a game, they found some success through the air from their quarterbacks as well as direction.

"Our quarterback, Kooper Oxarart, ran our offense extremely well," Coach Oxarart said. "He has to know quite a number of things in order to run our offense and create the deception and misdirection that we do. Kooper made many nice throws to our receivers in our play-action passing game."

In K. Oxarart's absence during an upper-body injury, the team was led by sophomore Connor Tuss. His outing at quarterback eventually earned Tuss a look at other positions throughout the season.

"Connor did a great job stepping up at quarterback, safety, and tight end when some older guys were battling injuries," Coach Oxarart said.

Though the post-season All-Conference list will be released in a week or so after the Northern B teams are done playing, the team awards will not be revealed until the Malta Athletic Club Banquet in the spring.

First Quarter: Red Lodge - Heimer 4 yard run (Graham kick).

Red Lodge - Jetmore 49 yard pass from Heimer (Graham kick).

Red Lodge - Davis 60 run (Graham kick).

Second Quarter: Red Lodge - Berndt 66 yard interception (Graham kick).

Red Lodge - Berndt 15 yard run (Graham kick).

Third Quarter: Malta - Rex Williamson 16 yard run (run failed).