2018 Mustangs Football Recap

The year-end totals are in for the 2018 Malta Mustangs.

Malta (5-4) saw their season come to a close on Saturday, October 27, in a first-round playoff loss to Huntley Project, who lost 56-12 to Missoula-Loyola last Saturday, November 3, in the second-round of the State B playoffs.

"We had a very young team that improved each week," Mustangs Football Head Coach Jim Benn told the PCN. "They had an excellent attitude, tremendous work ethic, and trusted the process of daily and weekly improvement."

Statistically, the Mustangs were led by senior Andres Lopez who rushed for 996 yards and eight touchdowns on 119 carries (8.37 YPC). Defensively Lopez tied with junior Callan Mears for 105 tackles. Lopez had a team-leading 30 solo-tackles and he recorded two sacks.

"Andres was a dominant player in the Northern B conference on both sides of the ball," Coach Benn said. "He was our leading tackler and rusher. He loves football and is a great teammate."

Seniors Lopez, Kevin Henry, Miles Bunk, Kolter Schipman, Rhett Simanton, and Payton Clausen left their impact on this year's team and that was seen by Coach Benn, who is in his second year as the Mustang coach.

"This senior class was committed to the team, and each other," Coach Benn said. "They are positive leaders and amazing young men. I'm very proud of their accomplishments over the last two years."

Henry had 301 yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries (9.12 YPC). Cash Salsbery had 221 yards and three touchdowns on 55 carries (4.02 YPC). Tanner Smith had 169 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries (5.63 YPC). Cormac Benn had 162 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries (4.15 YPC).

Sophomore Kooper Oxarart completed 60 of his 123 throws (48.7%) for 890 yards, nine touchdowns, and five interceptions. Benn had five completions on twelve throws for 57 yards.

Benn led all receivers with 317 yards and four touchdowns on 20 catches. Smith had 247 yards and one touchdown on 16 catches, Schipman had 139 yards and three touchdowns on nine receptions. Henry had 138 yards on 10 catches, Rex Williamson had one catch for 15 yards, Mears had one catch for seven yards and Darrow Messerly had one catch for two yards.

Defensively, Oxarart had a team-leading five interceptions as a defensive back along with 54 tackles. Henry had three interceptions. Schipman, Jeremiah Benson, Smith, Cash Salsbery and Mears each recorded one interception. Malta had a total of 13 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Salsbery.

The team emphasized forcing turnovers this year, and this year forcing a turnover gave the individual who made the play a special honor.

"We give out wristbands in the same vein as the Miami Turnover Chain," Coach Benn said. "Coach (Travis) Somerfeld did an excellent job of preparing our team for the variety of offenses and explosive players that we saw over the course of the season."

Cormac Benn had a team-leading five sacks and four quarterback hurries.

Henry was the team's leading kick returner with 278 yards and a touchdown on 13 returns. Benn had 178 yards and a touchdown on seven returns. Benn also had 97 yards on five punt returns.

Lopez led Malta in scoring with a total of 68 points. Benn had 46 points, Kevin had 34, Salsbery had 24, Smith had 22, Schipman had 20, Oxarart had 12, Cordell Salsbery had four, the team recorded one safety, Rex Williamson scored two points, Rhett Simanton scored two points, and Mears scored two points. The team had a total of 238 points.

Malta allowed their opponents 196 points. Opponents ran for 1693 yards on 368 (4.6 YPC). The Mustangs also allowed 883 yards and 74 completions on 136 passing attempts.

Though Malta will feature several new starters next season, the team returns plenty of talent.

"We return an excellent group of young players next year," Coach Benn said. "They should be explosive on offense and stingy on defense."