Season ends as Mustangs fall 34-22 to Hoerhauf led Trojans

The 2021 post-season campaign ended abruptly for the Malta Mustangs Football Team as they fell 34-22 to the Whitehall Trojans on Saturday, October 30, at Mustang Field.

The Mustangs went into the postseason undefeated and were ranked in the top five amongst Class B schools, and were pitted against a team that posted a 2-6 record in the regular season.

Malta had a 22-13 lead going into halftime, but Whitehall would score 21 unanswered points to shock the 2021 Class B Football Championship Series.

"We had high expectations for ourselves going into the postseason and not realizing your potential is what hurts most about the loss," Mustangs Head Coach Nick Oxarart told the PCN. "Our opponent was a very good football team, but we feel like we didn't play our best and had some missed opportunities that ultimately cost us a chance to win. There are definitely some play calls I'd like to have back and I could've done a better job preparing our team, but our opponent made big plays when they had to and stopped us when they needed to."

Overall, the Western Conference was not kind to their Northern Conference opponents last weekend, first seed Malta fell to fourth seed Whitehall, second seed Glasgow lost 49-0 to third seed Bigfork, third seed Fairfield fell 42-12 to second seed Lincoln County (Eureka), and the north's fourth seed Cut Bank lost 37-0 to Florence-Carlton.

Despite the snow falling, Malta was able to jump out to an 8-0 advantage scoring on the first offensive play of the game, a 69-yard rushing touchdown by senior Cash Salsbery. Salsbery scored on the two-point try and would gain a total of 106 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries.

"We had a great start to the football game and were able to score quickly on our first offensive play of the game," Coach Oxarart said. "We had great blocking on the perimeter and we were able to get Cash out in space and he utilized his speed to break off a long run and score."

Malta also scored during their first possession of the second quarter on a 24 yard run by senior Rex Williamson. Senior Quarterback Connor Tuss would run and score on the two-point try. Williamson had a total of 108 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries.

Despite not having much success moving the ball in the first quarter, Whitehall's offense would roll in the final three quarters, racking up a majority of their 469 yards in the final three quarters.

Whitehall quarterback Miles Hoerauf rushed for 230 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 254 yards and two more touchdowns.

Though Malta has seen teams attempt to air the ball out in previous games, Hoerauf proved to be a different caliber of player.

"What made them so difficult to defend is their quarterback was a dual-threat. He could pass so well and also run it just as well," Coach Oxarart said. "He is an outstanding athlete and the best quarterback we have seen this season. If we tried to stop the run, they were having success passing, and if we stopped the pass they were able to run it on us."

Despite a disappointing end to such a dominant regular season, the 2021 Mustangs left a great impression on Coach Oxarart and his staff.

"This has been an awesome group to coach," Coach Oxarart said. "We have had a lot of fun this season and realized a great deal of success."

Coach Oxarart spoke well about his senior class, which provided the team with solid leadership.

"This group of seniors did a great job of leading by example and helped develop the younger guys to have future success," Coach Oxarart said. "The 2021 Mustangs were led by Dylan Brown, Eion Estill, Shawn Gilkerson, Darrow Messerly, Cash Salsbery, Jacob Smith, Connor Tuss, Dwight Werk, Ashton Weston, and Rex Williamson."

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter:

Malta - Cash Salsbery 69 yard run (Salsbery run) 11:46 8-0

2nd Quarter:

Malta - Rex Williamson 24 yard run (Connor Tuss run) 9:51 16-0

Whitehall - Brendan Wagner 2 yard pass from Miles Hoerauf (Cy Tebay kick) 16-7

Whitehall - Hoerfauf 75 yard run (kick failed) 2:40 16-13

Malta - Tuss 1 yard run (run failed) 0:35 22-13

3rd Quarter:

Whitehall - Parker Wagner 43 yard pass from Hoerauf (Tebay kick) 22-20

Whitehall - Hoerauf 1 yard run (Tebay kick) 1:02 22-27

4th Quarter:

Whitehall - Hoerauf 2 yard run (Tebay kick) 4:13 22-34