Malta rolls into bye week with even record

The Mustangs are now 2-0 in the Northern B conference after defeating their second straight divisional foe in as many weeks. The team currently holds a 2-2 record.

Malta will head into bye week and then continue their quest for the playoffs, facing Fairfield for Malta high School's Homecoming game on Friday, September 28.

"They are very athletic," Malta Head Coach Jim Benn said of Fairfield. "They have great athletes across the board. They are very good running the ball to the outside and they have very good skill position kids."

According to Coach Benn, Fairfield's quarterback Ryder Myer committed to the University of Montana Grizzlies.

"He is a very smart kid," Coach Benn said of Myer. "He has done some very nice things over the course of the season."

Malta was defeated 42-7 in Fairfield last season.

"When playing Fairfield we really have to work on our blocking and our tackling," Coach Benn said. "Because we are young, we are still making those young mistakes, so these two weeks we can get a lot accomplished."

With four Northern B teams headed to the Class B State Football Tournament, Malta is hopeful that they can make it back to the tournament after being bounced in the first round last season.

"We have put ourselves in a good position to make the playoffs, being 2-0 in the conference," Coach Benn said. "We just have to keep doing what we are doing and I think good things will continue to happen to these guys. They are great kids and they have come a long way in four games."

Though Malta has won the past two games, Coach Benn believes that the bye week will benefit the team.

"The bye is coming at a great time for us to get prepped for the biggest game of the season for us," Coach Benn said.

In Malta's win over Conrad, the team was led by senior running back Kevin Henry, who had two touchdowns and 117 yards on 12 carries (9.75 YPC).

Coach Benn liked what he saw on offense and defense, the two main phases of the game.

"We played better defensively than we have played all year," Coach Benn said. "And we got a few good things out of running the ball. There were a couple of positives for sure."

In playing Conrad, Malta saw a team similar to them in age and experience.

"They are a lot like us; pretty young," Coach Benn said. "They have got some good sophomores coming up and they were much improved since last year."

Conrad was a run heavy team and Coach Benn felt like his team handled the challenge well.

"They were a very good running team and I feel like we played a lot more physically than we had in weeks past," Coach Benn said.

Senior Andres Lopez had 73 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries (5.62 YPC). Cormac Benn had one touchdown and 38 yards on six carries (6.33 YPC).

Sophomore quarterback Kooper Oxarart was 6-for-7, passing for 88 yards.

"We really got our outside game going offensively," Coach Benn said. "Kooper was efficient throwing the ball. We are still struggling in the interior running the ball. That is something we are going to emphasize during the bye week.... But we are really pleased with our outside game."

Though Oxarart was efficient in his passing, he shined on defense, picking off two passes from his spot at free safety. He has had at least one interception in each of the past three games.

"He is doing his job," Coach Benn said of Oxarart's efforts at safety. "We kind of knew situations when they would throw the ball and he did a good job staying over the top of things."

Cormac Benn had four sacks in the win.

"Cormac did a great job coming off the edge," Coach Benn said. "His physicality is improving and he does a nice job tackling in space."

Lopes led the team in tackles with 20.5. Callan Mears had 13, Pierce Mortenson had 11, Tanner Smith had 11.