Malta downed in Fairfield

What was a seemingly close football game turned into a sloppy loss for the Malta Mustangs, who are 3-2 after a 42-7 loss to the Fairfield Eagles last Friday in Fairfield.

The Mustangs will look to try to regain traction against the Cut Bank Wolves this Friday, October 7, at Mustang Field at 7 p.m. The match will kick off a two game home stand for the Mustangs who will also face Harlem on October 13 in Malta.

The Wolves are fresh off of a 42-6 win against the Glasgow Scotties, which happened in Cut Bank last Friday, September 29. One week prior, the Eagles dismantled Cut Bank 45-0.

"Cut Bank runs a very similar offense to Fairfield," Malta Head Coach Jim Benn said. "They have a similar front on defense. That will be a nice thing that we are preparing for a similar look this week. There were some things we did well against those looks and hopefully we can improve upon that."

Malta fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter against the Fairfield Eagles, before Malta could respond with their lone touchdown, a 7 yard touchdown connection from Trace Simonson to Konner Kuehn in the second quarter. With the score being 14-7 at the half things were looking optimistic for the underdog Mustangs.

"We had a good plan (but) we didn't get out to a good start in either half," Coach Benn said. "I think that coupled with the end of the game were the big deciding factors."

Before the score got out of hand Malta was forced a pair of turnovers, one was an interception by Mustang junior Andres Lopez before halftime and another interception by sophomore Tanner Smith in the third. The Mustangs could not capitalize on those possessions and even gave the ball away three times on fumbles. One fumble was forced and the other two were on handoff exchanges.

"We had some missed opportunities," Coach Benn said. "There were a couple of times where we would have a play action pass and we didn't get it. We would get an interception and then turn the ball right back over. Those are things you just can't do against a good team."

Malta would keep things close until the opening minutes of the third quarter, when Fairfield would turn a Malta fumble into a 50 yard rushing touchdown.

From there the bleeding would continue as Fairfield scored three more touchdowns in the remaining minutes of the game.

Though things did not go Malta's way, Coach Benn was encouraged by what he saw from the Mustangs.

"There were lots of positives," Coach Benn said. "We had a 21 play drive and a 14 play drive and there were some really solid things that happened through the course of the game."

Coach Benn felt that Malta's defense forced both of the interceptions thanks to pressure and coverage.

"Our pass coverage is something that I thought we had improved upon," Coach Benn said.

Malta's rushing attack was led by senior Trey Simanton, who accounted for 55 of Malta's 174 yards on the ground. Simanton had 15 carries and 3.67 yards per carry (YPC).

Simonson had 46 yards on 21 carries (2.19 YPC), Lopez had 32 yards on 10 carries (3.20), Kevin Henry had 17 yards and Tanner Smith had 24.

"We just couldn't break off any big runs," Coach Benn said. "We were successful and we were able to move the ball. That's where Fairfield was so good. They were so fast that you could break something and they could keep it from going 40 yards."

Simonson was 8-of-14 for 52 passing yards. Keuhn had 22 yards on three catches. Lopez had a eight yard catch, Henry had a two yard catch, Simanton had a 10 yard catch and Rhett Simanton had an 11 yard catch.

The Mustangs have three more weeks of regular season football and while nothing is guaranteed, four Northern B teams will punch tickets into the State B Tournament Bracket. Malta hopes to be one of those teams but they are pacing themselves one week at a time.

"I think we just need to take care of this week," Coach Benn said. "That's what we control. We can't affect anything that has happened in the past, so we are just going to look forward. Cut Bank is a good opponent and we will do everything we can to be ready for them."

Winners of the Malta Athletic Club Punt, Pass and Kick will be honored during halftime of the Malta – Cut Bank game on Friday, October 6.