One Nation, Under God
One Nation, Under God
The 2023 Malta Mustangs Football Team. Front Row Left to Right: Front Left to Right: Chuck Brettin, Treyton Wilke, Mason Simanton, Hunter Stolem, Clay Hallenberg, Colton Mears, Bow SaintLouis, Sebastian Best, Mason Sjostrom, Kyle Darrington, Blaine Downing, and Stockton Oxarart. Middle Left to Right: Rylee Brusse, Tyson Crawford, Dawson Hammond, Duke Williamson, Jonah Bucks, Korbyn Skubinna, Kohner Schipman, Landon Retan, Sonny Gray, Straud Sims, and Trooper Stiles. Back Left to Right: Oslo Stenburg, Jackson Bleth, Skylar Gilkerson, Alex Martian, Kayden Green, Jake Brown, Laytin Erickson, Tripp Lefdahl, Bridger Benton, Alex Butler, Kenan LaBrie, and Mngr Avi Oxarart. Coaches Left to Right: John Retan, Jeff Van Heel, Ryan Wilson, Aaron DeVries, and Head Coach Nick Oxarart. Photo by Lynne's Line Photography
Clayton Hallenberg and Sebastian Best tackle a Jefferson player in their loss to the Panthers last Friday. Photo by DoDee Oxarart.
The Malta Mustangs football team has started the season 1-2 after facing some early adversity and tough opponents this season.
"We have a lot of young players stepping in to fill the shoes of some of the upperclassmen that have sustained injuries," Malta Head Coach Nick Oxarart said. "We were missing four starters last week at our game in Jefferson. We are gaining experience and getting better each week, even if the scoreboard has not indicated that lately."
The team welcomes back a few All-Conference selections from the 2022 season, but they graduated three All-State athletes including Spencer Gibbs, Camryn Mears, and Eli Hanson. They also graduated Reese Brown, Kaden Bishop, and Tye Jones who were All-Conference selections last year.
The team does welcome back junior Stockton Oxarart who was a first team selection at quarterback and second team selection at defensive back last season.
The team also welcomes back senior Kyle Darrington who was a first team selection at wide receiver and second team selection at defensive back. Darrington will be out for multiple weeks due to a leg injury that happened on a late hit in the first game of the season.
The team also welcomes back senior Colton Mears who was a second team selection as an offensive lineman last year.
Malta also welcomed back seniors Hunter Stolem (OL-LB), Clay Hallenberg (OL-DL), Sebastian Best (TE-LB), and Bow SaintLouis (OL-DL).
Other starters returning include junior Treyton Wilke (RB-LB), who has made a few explosive plays early in the season. Junior Blaine Downing had a few games last season where he was in on multiple sacks from the defensive end position. Downing has also provided the team with power from the halfback position. Junior Mason Simanton comes back as a (TE-LB) for Malta.
Sophomore Trooper Stiles has been used at wide receiver over the last few weeks after the team lost starting wide receiver Mason Sjostrom, a senior, to a leg injury. Dawson Hammond has been used on the other side of the field, and gave Malta their longest plays from scrimmage last Friday.
The final score in Malta's loss to Jefferson last Friday was 48-14.
Malta was without four of their starters, who start on both sides of the field. The score was 48-14.
Malta was led by Oxarart who was 6-of-13 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Those two touchdowns went to Hammond who had three catches for 180 yards. Hammond's first touchdown was an 80-yard reception to put Malta on the board as the team was trailing 21-0 in the second quarter. Hammond's second touchdown was a 90- yard reception from Oxarart late in the fourth quarter, as Malta trailed 42-7.
"I am real proud of how hard our players battled in Jefferson," Coach Oxarart said. "Jefferson is one of the top teams in Class B and we were able to execute many plays very well but made too many mistakes to have the success we wanted."
Coach Oxarart believes that Jefferson has the biggest offensive line that the team will see this season.
"We will sit down this week and analyze the things we are doing right and try to fix the things that are going wrong," Coach Oxarart said. "Things do not get easier this week either as we head off to play Missoula Loyola in Fairfield (neutral site) this Saturday at 2 p.m. We hope to keep learning and build off the experience of playing high quality opponents. We hope that experience will prepare us for our conference opponents."
2023 Malta Mustangs
Varsity and JV Schedule
VARSITY
DAY DATE EVENT Time SITE
Fri. Aug. 11 First Day of Practice TBA Malta HS
Friday Aug. 25 Baker 6:00 PM Malta
Friday Sept. 1 Red Lodge 7:00 PM Malta
Friday Sept. 8 at Jefferson 7:00 PM Jefferson
Friday Sept. 15 Missoula Loyola 7:00 PM Fairfield
Friday Sept. 22 Glasgow 7:00 PM Glasgow
Friday Sept. 29 Conrad ~ Senior Night 7:00 PM Malta
Friday Oct. 6 Wolf Point ~ Homecoming 7:00 PM Malta
Friday Oct. 13 at Cut Bank 7:00 PM Cut Bank
Friday Oct. 20 at Fairfield 6:00 PM Fairfield
Postseason
Saturday Oct. 28 First Round Playoffs TBA TBA
Saturday Nov. 4 Quarterfinal Playoffs TBA TBA
Saturday Nov. 11 Semifinal Playoffs TBA TBA
Saturday Nov. 18 State B Championship TBA TBA
JUNIOR VARSITY
DAY DATE EVENT Time SITE
Friday Aug. 11 First Day of Practice TBA Malta
Monday Sept. 4 at Glasgow 5:00 PM Glasgow
Saturday Sept. 9 at Jefferson 10:00 AM Boulder
Monday Sept. 18 at Havre 6:00 PM Havre
Monday Oct. 2 Havre 5:00 PM Malta
Monday Oct. 16 Glasgow 5:00 PM Malta
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