Mustangs Freshman/Sophomore fall to Havre

The Havre Blue Ponies came to town on Monday evening and escaped with a 28-14 win, but the Mustangs – with many players banged-up with injuries – made the visitors earn the victory and showed signs that the first win for the Freshman and Sophomore team is most likely right around the corner.

"The kids put out a great effort tonight," said Head Coach Delmer Henry. "I am always satisfied with their effort. But when we are spread so thin and have a couple of key players go down, we needed other to kids step up and we got that tonight."

The Mustang defense was stingy in the first quarter and after only allowing Havre six yards on their first drive they then pushed the Ponies off the field on their ensuing drive when freshman linebacker Trace Simonson broke up a pass on fourth down.

The Mustang's second drive of the game saw quarterback Keenan Schipman nearly being sacked deep in the backfield before he broke a tackle, changed his course of direction and ran around Havre defenders to turn what would be a 10-yard loss into a 15-yard gain. Unfortunately, for the home team, a miscue on the center to quarterback snap on the next play turned the ball over to Havre. It was seven plays later that the Ponies scored the first points of the game on a touchdown run to take a 6-0 lead with nine minutes to play in the half.

The Havre lead wouldn't last for long as just four minutes later the Mustangs scored on a 7-yard scamper from sophomore Kolbe Murray who added the two-point conversion on the following play, pounding his way through Havre arm tackles on his way to the end zone. The scoring drive for the Mustangs started when Schipman fielded the kick off and returned the ball 30 yards down field giving Malta prime field position at their 40-yard line. Trace Simonson led the team at quarterback on the drive and connected with freshman Konner Kuehn twice in the series, the first time for a four-yard gain, the second for a long 40-yard completion in which Kuehn got behind the defender and corralled the long toss. The deep pass set up Murray's plunge giving the Mustangs a 8-6 lead going into halftime.

The third quarter started with a bang for Malta when the Havre kick-off sailed to Trace Simonson at his up-back position, bounced off his chest and onto the turf. Trace patiently retrieved the ball, got behind a wall of Mustang blockers, broke a tackle and then darted down the right sideline for a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The extra point was unsuccessful but the Mustangs took a 14-6 lead just seconds into the start of the second half.

The Mustangs defense held their ground on Havre's next two drives, each ending with Malta interceptions – the first by Kuehn, the second by freshman defensive back Trey Simonton.

But the visitors found the end zone on their next two drives and took a 28-14 lead into the fourth quarter.

Down, but not out, the Mustangs buckled-down in the fourth and didn't allow another point in the contest.

"I thought we brought a little bit of a different mentality there in the fourth quarter and kind of settled into what we were doing," said Coach Henry.

With Murray nursing an injury on the Mustang sidelines, some of the young Malta players got a chance to play some different positions and though they were not able to muster any more points, they played with pride and poise in the final frame.

"We had to battle through some injuries at key positions where we had some kids playing positions they weren't used to," said Coach Henry. "There was a lot of learning out there today."

The Mustangs travel to Lewistown next Monday with kickoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Malta Mustang Freshman/Sophomore Statistics.

Passing: Trace Simonson 4 of 12 for 47 yards. Keenan Schipman 4 of 12 for 47 yards. Rushing: Kolbe Murray 6 carries, 64 yards 1 TD. Schipman 5 carries for 42 yards. Trace Simonson 7 carries for 21 yards. Trey Simonson 9 carries for 21 yards. Cru Darrah 2 carries for 11 yards. Receiving: Konner Kuehn 2 receptions, 48 yards. Cru Darrah 3 receptions, 17 yards. Grant O'Brien 1 reception, 26 yards. David Skiff 1 reception, 16 yards.