Mustangs Hold Blue and White Scrimmage

The Malta Mustangs football team held their annual Blue and White Scrimmage at Mustang Field last Friday, August 23.

The scrimmage featured a mixture of varsity and junior varsity Mustang football players going against each other to prepare the team for the regular season, slated to kick off Friday, August 30, against the Baker Spartans in Baker.

Mustang senior Stockton Oxarart, the team's quarterback was asked how he felt the event went.

"It was good," Oxarart said. "We evened up the teams so it was a lot more competitive than in recent years. So, it was a lot of fun out there."

Teams started from the 40-yard line, and were given four downs to gain a first down.

Oxarart led the blue team, and was the only team to officially score. His younger brother, backup quarterback Kazner Oxarart led the white team.

The younger Oxarart, a freshman, bested his big brother early in the game, intercepting a pass while on defense.

"I'm gonna hear about that for years," Stockton said.

Stockton was asked how it felt to be on the field.

"I love it," he said. "It's that time of the year and I'm just excited for this season."

Senior Blaine Downing was making an impact on defense, getting in the backfield often.

"It's pretty easy to get there with these younger guys," Downing said. "They're doing good, though it's impressive to see how much they've improved from the first day to where we are now."

Downing led Malta's defense last season, and this year's team brings a mix of experienced athletes and young athletes. Both groups made plays defensively.

"I think that every play we had guys in the backfield," Downing said. "We're definitely looking good defensively, so yeah, I'm happy with that."

Despite the successes the white team was having on defense, the team was unable to score.

"White took the L, so I am not very happy about that, but I think it went very well," Downing said. "I'm happy with where our team is at right now and I'm confident going into the season."

The team will travel for the first two games of the season. The first is against Baker on Friday, and the second is against Red Lodge on Friday, September 6.

Downing was asked about his thoughts on the first games being away games.

"I feel like away games are really good bonding experiences for the team," Downing said. "I love the away games, maybe more than the home games, except for homecoming and senior night."

Malta's first home game is scheduled to take place on Friday, September 13. It will be the team's homecoming game. They will host Jefferson who made it to the State B Semifinals last season.