Mustangs beat Scotties 55-14

The Malta Mustangs (6-2) are scheduled to face the Loyola Sacred Heart Rams this weekend in the first round of the 2017 MHSA Class B Football Championship Series after dismantling the Glasgow Scotties 55-14 last Friday in Glasgow.

Malta took third in the Northern B with a 4-2 record in the conference this season, so they will take on the Western Conference's second seed, Loyola.

The game is set to start at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 28, in Missoula.

The Rams are 6-3, with those losses coming from Huntley Project (32-21) in the season opener, Fairfield (34-10) in week three and most recently Lincoln County (51-28) on Friday, September 29.

Like the Mustangs, the Rams are currently on a three-game win streak. The Rams' most recent win was against Florence-Carlton (28-8) on Friday, October 20.

"Loyola is a spread offense," Mustangs Head Coach Jim Benn said. "They have taken some of Stitt's (Bob Stitt, Head Coach of the University of Montana Grizzles) principals."

Though their offense is built around a modern philosophy, the Ram's defense is a little more old school.

"Defensively, they are a seven-man front, in a 4-shell (4-3)," Coach Benn said. "They are a traditional Class B power. They have been successful in all of their games. They have played some of the tougher teams in Class B football this year."

He went on to say that Loyola has seen a healthy amount of different Class B teams across the state.

In the Mustang's 55-14 win over Glasgow, Malta was led by quarterback Trace Simonson who ran for three touchdowns and 128 yards on six carries (21.33 YPC).

"We got out to a great start and it just kind of took off from there," Coach Benn said.

The Mustangs opened the game with a five play drive that went for 60 yards.

"We were able to manage moving the ball (at first)," Coach Benn said. "From there the big plays really started popping. We had a 74-yard run, a 50-yard and a 75-yard run."

Trey Simanton ran for two touchdowns and 128 yards on five carries (30.80 YPC).

Andres Lopez had three touchdowns, two of which were on the ground and the other that came off of a pick-six. Lopez also had a total of 91 rushing yards on four carries (22.75 YPC).

"He got underneath a slant play," Coach Benn said of the interception. "He hooked a curl and housed it. It was awesome."

Malta scored 34 points in the first quarter and 21 more in the second quarter. Up 55-7 at halftime and having put down close to 400 offensive yards, Malta elected to pull their starters off of the field.

"We subbed out our guys with about four minutes left in the second quarter," Coach Benn said. "We let our younger guys finish out the game."

Not adding insult to injury, Malta only threw the ball six times, but there was only one completion from Simonson to Tanner Smith that went 33 yards.

Glasgow had 28 carries for 110 yards. The Scotties were 9-for-21 passing for a total of 100 yards.

With the regular season ending and playoffs set to start, Coach Benn reflected non the state of the Mustangs.

"I think that we would've liked to have gotten a win or two more obviously, but we are sitting in a good spot," Coach Benn said. "Loyola is a tough team, so we are going to have to come and play but we are healthy for the most part and our kids are playing good football. I feel like we have a good mentality going into the playoffs."