Malta picks off Conrad four times in 43-0 victory; to face Cut Bank Friday

The Malta Mustangs Football team is now 5-0 this season after posting a dominant 43-0 over the Conrad Cowboys at Mustang field on Friday, September 24.

"The key to our win was being able to shut down their run game, and forcing them to pass, and that creates turnovers for us," Malta senior Cash Salsbery said. "Which made sense because we had a lot of picks today."

Salsbery was asked about the team's start, and he said that it was a good start, but the team has plenty to work on.

"We are working our way to get to state," Salsbery said. "That is our end goal."

The Mustangs will host their third home game of the season on Friday, October 8, against the 1-4 Cut Bank Wolves.

Cut Bank's one win came against the Wolf Point Wolves last Friday. The score was 40-8. The win came behind a rushing attack that earned the team six touchdowns.

In Malta's win over Conrad, the team was led by senior quarterback Connor Tuss, who was 3-of-6 for 123 yards and two touchdowns. On the defensive end, Tuss, who played free safety, had an interception that he returned 60 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

"Being a quarterback, you can understand the opposing quarterback, read his eyes and go pick it off right away," Tuss said. "I broke free. When I broke free, I was running for my life and I was not planning on getting caught. I was scoring!"

Tuss has had previous experience as a tight-end in previous seasons, but memories of playing the position did not come to mind when he had the ball in his hands.

"It was more of me just running for my life," Tuss said. "Like the great Patty Mahomes (Starting QB for the Kansas City Chiefs) said, being this big, I run for my life."

Defensively, the team had four interceptions. Branton Moore had a fumble recovery.

"Our secondary was good," Salsbery said. "They were on top of everything."

Freshman Stockton Oxarart had two interceptions in the fourth quarter.

"It feels great," Oxarart said of his defensive performance. "I just have to keep at it, keep going."

Throughout the season, Oxarart has thrown touchdown passes as a quarterback and has provided his team and Mustang fans with plenty to cheer about. He was asked about those moments and what has been the key to his success, early in his career.

"Keep good chemistry and play football," Oxarart said.

Kaden Bishop also had one interception.

Junior Camryn Mears led the rushing attack for Malta, racking up 58 yards and two touchdowns on nine attempts. He also had a catch for 19 yards. Senior Darrow Messerly had two attempts for 35 yards and one touchdown. Rex Williamson had two carries for 25 yards, a punt return for 79 yards, and a kickoff return for 53 yards.

Malta had a total of 259 yards on offense, while Conrad had 149 yards. The Mustangs had nine first downs and Conrad had eight.

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter: Camryn Mears 1 yard run (kick failed) 8:33 6-0

2nd Quarter: Mears 30 yard run (Rex Williamson pass from Connor Tuss) 6:37 14-0

Tuss 60 yard interception return (Mears run) 4:37 22-0

Shawn Gilkerson 68 yard pass from Tuss (Jacob Smith kick) 0:32 29-0

3rd Quarter: Spencer Gibbs 36 yard pass from Tuss (Smith kick) 10:42 36-0

Darrow Messerly 20 yard run (Smith kick) 2:33 43-0

4th Quarter: none