Mustangs To Host Glasgow Friday

The Malta Mustangs football team improved their record to 4-0 after picking up a win over the Loyola-Sacred Heart Rams in Fairfield last Friday, September 13.

"The key to the victory over Loyola was resilience," Malta Head Coach Nick Oxarart said. "Our players did a good job of being resilient and responding well to a lot of adversity. There were a lot of things that didn't go our way against Loyola."

Malta will host the rival Glasgow Scotties (3-1) this Friday at Mustang Field. Glasgow started their season 3-0 before they lost 8-6 to the Manhattan Eagles (4-0).

"We will need to be better this week as we have our first conference game against a very good opponent," Coach Oxarart said. "Glasgow brings back a lot of experience and a lot of returning starters."

Last year, Malta fell 26-7 to the Scotties, and Glasgow was 5-0 in Conference games. The team earned the top spot in the Northern B for the playoffs and were defeated 27-18 by Jefferson.

This year, Glasgow defeated Shepherd (1-3) 51-8 in the opening week of the season on Friday, August 30. They then beat Huntley 43-12 (1-3) on Friday, September 6, and Columbus (3-1) 20-13 on Friday, September 13.

"Glasgow is a well-balanced team that can throw and run the ball very effectively," Coach Oxarart said. "They are a big and physical team with good team speed. We will have to play disciplined and mistake-free football in order to have success this Friday night."

In Malta's win over Loyola-Sacred Heart, Malta was led by senior quarterback Stockton Oxarart, who completed 11-of-14 pass attempts for 246 yards and three touchdowns.

"Even on an extremely windy night, Stockton Oxarart threw the ball very well," Coach Oxarart said.

Junior Dawson Hammond caught four passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. His first touchdown was a 74-yarder and his second was a 71-yarder, both in the third quarter.

Senior Blaine Downing had one reception for a 25 yard touchdown. Junior Trooper Stiles had two catches for 25 yards. Senior Mason Simanton had one catch for 17 yards and Senior Treyton Wilke had three catches for 11 yards.

Malta struggled to run the ball and had -14 yards on the ground as a team.

"Loyola had a good game plan and were able to shut down our run game," Coach Oxarart said. "I didn't have us as prepared for the defense Loyola was running as I should have."

Juniors Landon Retan and Straud Sims shared the lead in tackles, both racking up 11. Retan blocked a field goal. Simanton had eight tackles. Downing had seven tackles (2 TFL). Oxarart had four tackles, Wilke had three tackles (2 TFL).

Oxarart, Simanton, and Wilke each intercepted a pass. Simanton recovered a fumble on defense, caused by Downing.

"Our defense did an outstanding job of slowing down a good team," Coach Oxarart said. "We won the turnover battle which ultimately helped us win the game."