Malta manhandles Bigfork
BIGFORK - The journey off the field and down hill back to the locker room for the Bigfork Vikings football team Saturday was a slow, painful walk.
A strange journey for many.
It was a trail of tears for several of the players.
Others had sad, long faces.
They were stunned ... shocked.
Their season, believe it or not, was over.
The Vikings sure didn't expect it to end like this.
The defending Class B state champions not only had their 15-game home winning streak shattered by a very talented No. 2-ranked Malta squad on a gray, damp afternoon, but they were thoroughly outplayed.
The Mustangs (10-0) relied offensively on Jade Olson, a shifty 5-foot-6, 170-pound running back who scored five touchdowns, and a hard-hitting defense to post a lopsided 42-0 quarterfinal playoff victory.
The loss for Bigfork (8-2) was its first after eight straight victories this fall.
The Vikings' season also ended the way it started - in defeat.
"Bigfork is a very talented football team," Malta coach Scott King said.
"They are very well coached. Their offensive and defensive schemes are matched to their personnel."
But this day belonged to Malta and Olson.
"Our run-pass ratio up to this point has been two run and one pass," King said.
Saturday, they elected to "go with Olson. He's got good speed, good strength. He seems to run stronger as the game goes on," King said.
Olson darted his way through the Bigfork defense all day, breaking tackles and dodging defenders. When all was said and done, the senior had a Cody Dopps-like outing with 258 yards on 25 carries.
Dopps, Bigfork's talented running back, on the other hand had an off-day with just 82 yards rushing on 21 attempts. There were no long gainers up the middle or to the outside for the senior.
Bigfork totaled just 182 yards in total offense (113 rushing and 69 passing).
Malta rolled up 337 yards total offense.
"Malta is very good," Bigfork coach Todd Emslie said.
"I'm very much impressed with their interior offensive line, which happens to be their linebackers, too."
Bigfork's offense had no rally magic this weekend. Down by three touchdowns at halftime last week versus Florence, the Vikings pass game was off the mark and the holes for Dopps were plugged by Malta's defense.
There were no big plays or game-breakers this time.
Turnovers didn't help either. Bigfork lost two fumbles and threw two interceptions.
Malta's Jace Anderson returned a pick from the Malta 27-yard line to the Bigfork one. Olson scored one play later, putting Malta on top 21-0 in the second quarter.
Bigfork had a chance to get some momentum right before the half ended, but lost a fumble on the Malta 2-yard line with 20 seconds left.
"It kind of hurt us," Emslie said of not capitalizing on that opportunity.
"We had a chance ... it would have helped."
But it was that kind of day for Bigfork.
Malta will now face Ronan on Saturday in the Class B semifinals. Ronan advanced with a 14-9 win over Baker.
"Our guys played hard," King said.
"Football is very important to them. They knew they had a huge task today."
King said the victory was very special to those Malta seniors who have been starting since their sophomore season.
"They lost their first round game the last two years," he said.
"So this playoff run is pretty special."
Malta is competing in postseason play for the 23rd straight season.
"I told them one game is not a measure of a season, or a career," Emslie said of his message to the team afterwards.
"Obviously this is not the way we wanted to end our season. In Class AA, A, B and C there can only be one team that is happy at the end.
"It didn't go the way we wanted, that was kind of a downer," he added.
"But I told them to keep their heads up. You had a great season."
Malta 7 14 14 7 - 42
Bigfork 0 0 0 0 - 0
Malta - Jade Olson 32 run (Dalton Brookie kick)
Malta - Olson 4 run (Brookie kick)
Malta - Olson 1 run (Brookie kick)
Malta - Olson 14 run (Brookie kick)
Malta - Olson 2 run (Brookie kick)
Malta - Logan Messerly 16 run (Brookie kick)