Mustangs defeat Red Lodge 20-0

The Malta Mustangs football team has now won two straight after defeating the Red Lodge Rams 20-0 in Red Lodge last Friday, September 9.

The Mustangs will celebrate their 100th Year on Friday, September 16, during Malta's Homecoming Game against the Shepherd Mustangs, at 7 p.m.

Malta Public Schools posted on their social media site that they are inviting all former Mustangs to take a photo together on Mustang Field after the game.

Malta Head Coach Nick Oxarart has been a part of the Mustang Football Team for 20 years, including the 1996 championship team as a player, and an assistant coach for Malta's 2006 championship team.

Coach Oxarart was asked what it is like to have been with the team for 20 seasons.

"Mustang football has a lot of pride and tradition and I've been fortunate enough to be part of it as a player and coach for 20 years," Coach Oxarart said. "Some of my favorite memories are my involvement with Mustang football and I hope to create many more memories, not just for myself but for the players that make the commitment to be involved in such a program with rich tradition and 100 years of history."

In Malta's win over Red Lodge, Malta scored in each of the final quarters and had over 413 yards offensively. Red Lodge was held to 137 yards on offense.

Sophomore Stockton Oxarart had three interceptions and one fumble recovery against the Rams as a defensive back. He also accounted for two touchdowns in the win; one rushing and one passing. His first was a one yard run with 10:10 to go in the second quarter, and running back Spencer Gibbs scored two points on the conversion.

Gibbs scored a 30-yard touchdown in the third quarter with 7:44 on the clock. The two-point conversion resulted in an incomplete pass, but the Mustangs had a 14-0 lead.

Oxarart was 8-of-15 passing for 169 yards and had an eight-yard touchdown to Eli Hanson in the fourth quarter. The point after kick failed. The score was 20-0 with 2:23 remaining.

"We were able to get a nice mix of run and pass against Red Lodge," Coach Oxarart said. "Our offensive line is starting to gel together and figure out how to block what the defense gives us. Stockton Oxarart made some nice throws to really open up our passing game. Kyle Darrington and Eli Hanson caught some big passes for us on Friday night.

"Camryn Mears was able to get some nice runs behind the blocking from Reese Brown, Clay Hallenberg, Tye Jones, Bow SaintLouis, and Colton Mears," Coach Oxarart said. "Spencer Gibbs and Treyton Wilke ran the ball effectively for us as well."

Mears led in rushing yarding racking up 125 yards on 24 carries. Wilke had 60 yards on nine carries, Gibbs had five carries for 56 yards and one touchdown, and Oxarart had 11 carries for 19 yards and one touchdown.

Darrington had three receptions for 10 yards, Hanson had four catches for 72 yards and one touchdown, and Mears had one four-yard catch.

Defensively, Oxarart had three interception and Mason Simanton had one interception. Gibbs forced a fumble that Oxarart recovered.

When asked about the team's defensive performance, Coach Oxarart said that Defensive Coordinator Aaron Devries, along with assistant coaches Jeff Van Heel and Ryan Wilson came up with a game plan to stop Red Lodge's passing attack.

"We were able to mix up our defense a little bit and give them a different look and that seemed to be real effective for us," Coach Oxarart said. "Stockton Oxarart had three interceptions against Red Lodge. Colton Honey played really well at outside linebacker for us. We were able to get some pressure on the quarterback and make him throw a little earlier than he would've liked to. It was a great team effort on defense to keep a potent offense like Red Lodge off of the scoreboard."

The Mustangs will look to pick up their first home win of the season against their Shepherd counterparts this Friday at Mustang Field.

"Shepherd is a solid football team and will present a lot of problems for us to game plan for," Coach Oxarart said. "They are really aggressive on defense and will give us 5 and 6-man fronts for our offensive line to try to block."

Coach Oxarart said that Shepherd's offensive line is solid and that the team has a good rushing attack.

"Shepherd has multiple formations on offense and will give our defense many things to prepare for," Coach Oxarart said. "One of those formations is the wishbone offense that we have not prepared for this season. They have good running backs with power and speed. Their quarterback can run the ball effectively as well. They seem to be fairly balanced with their rushing and passing attacks."

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 P.M.