Season ends in Missoula

The season ended for the Malta Mustangs as the team fell to the Loyola Sacred Heart Rams 48-6 in Missoula last Saturday, October 28.

Things started off positive for Malta, who scored first against Fairfield, who received the opening kickoff.

Fairfield’s opening drive ended with a broken up pass by Malta’s Tanner Smith, forcing the Rams to punt.

Malta’s first drive would be quick as Mustang quarterback Trace Simonson would complete an 18 yard pass to Trey Simanton, and then Simonson and Andres Lopez would each run for a gain of about eight yards on consecutive plays. Simonson would continue to advance the ball with another 20 yards carry, which would set Malta up deep in the red zone. The success on Malta’s first drive was due to an observation.

“We ran our speed option, which was probably our most effective play on that drive,” Malta Head Coach Jim Benn said. “We kind of felt like that side of their defense was a little more susceptible, than the other side. The other side featured two Division-1 football players, so we figured we would run away from them.”

The drive would be finished off by a two-yard touchdown from Simanton at the 8:22 mark in the first quarter.

“They (Loyola) are a very athletic team,” Coach Benn said. “We had a nice drive to start the game. They settled in and though we had kids in good positions and they were doing good things, sometimes the ball just bounced their way and their kids just made plays.”

After that first score by Malta, which put them up 6-0, things went downhill in a hurry as Loyola was able to score in a little over two minutes.

Before the quarter would end, the Rams would score on a one-play 73 pass connection from quarterback Scott Twite to his younger brother Jeffrey Twite. The Rams would also return an interception 40 yards to go up 21-6.

“That interception that they had was just an outstanding, athletic play,” Coach Benn said. “If the ball was maybe an inch higher, we probably would’ve scored a touchdown on it.”

Coach Benn would then say that the team was unable to catch up after that turnover.

“If there was a pivotal point in the game, that would probably be it,” Benn said.

From there S. Twite would throw two more touchdowns in the second quarter, the first a 13 yarder to David Koppang and the other, a 64-yarder to J. Twite.

The Rams had a total of 435 yards, 362 of which came through the air and the other 73 on the ground.

Malta’s offensive effort was similar, as the Mustangs racked up 424 yards, 327 on the ground and 97 through the air.

Malta’s Simonson had 74 rushing yards on 21 attempts and he was 8-of-17 passing for 70 yards and two interceptions.

Simanton ran for 71 yards and one touchdown on 16 attempts. Andres Lopez had 14 yards on three carries.

Smith had two receptions for 33 yards, the longest being a 28 yard catch. Kohner Kuehn had three receptions for 25 yards.

Malta would turn the ball over three times in the game.

Though the season is over for the Mustangs, Coach Benn finished his first season with success, making the playoffs despite integrating a new playbook.

“The over-riding thing is that they are just a great group of kids that did what they were asked and it really was a dream season as a coach,” Coach Benn said. “There was very little issues with the kids or the parents. It was exactly how you would hope that it would be except for wanting to win all of the games, but what a great group of kids.”

Coach Benn went on to praise the team’s senior class, who was commended for their hard work.

“They are awesome kids,” he said. “They worked hard and had a great attitude every single day. They were fun to be around.”

Coach Benn went on to say that integrating into weeks without football would be different this fall.

“That is the hardest part, that come Monday (I) won’t be able to be around them in the same atmosphere,” Coach Benn said. “Definitely in my time as a coach, it has been the most enjoyable season that I have had.”

The team has already begun talking about their 2018 campaign.

“That’s one of the great things about football,” Coach Benn said. “You have to be forward thinking and now, it’s like what’s next? We talk about that with the kids all of the time. You only have this day, so we are going to look forward and there are some great young kids coming up. Our JV team had a very positive and successful season.”

Coach Benn did not go into many details about the team’s future, but one thing is for certain, the group will be younger.

“We will be on the younger side next year, but there are some very good things coming,” Coach Benn said.

Coach Benn also shared that he has encouraged athletes to keep playing other sports throughout the school year if possible.

“In my experience, the kids that have been the best football players, have been three sport athletes,” Coach Benn said. “So, we will highly encourage kids to wrestle or play basketball and I think that track is the centerpiece of becoming a good football player.”

He used one of Malta’s most popular Mustangs as an example, University of Montana defensive end Tucker Schye.

“You don’t have to look much further than Tucker Schye to know that he was a state placer in the 100 meter dash as a very large human being to know that track is valuable,” Coach Benn said. “That has always been an emphasis of mine. Speed helps greatly in football.”