Glasgow rout turns into tough, defensive game

The night was cool as the Scotties left the football field at Malta on Friday night.

Some of the players ran back to the locker room. Some limped. Some stood behind to bask in a few more seconds of glory.

The Scotties just beat Malta for the second straight year, the first time in seven years they did so on the road.

The final score of 13-7 was a far cry from where the game looked like it was headed in the first quarter.

Then the game looked more like a Scotty blowout. It looked like Glasgow would treat their biggest rival like they had Choteau the week before and force them into a world of mistakes, all of them eventually snowballing into an insurmountable lead.

After all, the Scotties forced Malta into four turnovers on the Mustangs’ first five possessions.

A fumble on the first possession led to nothing, but a Drew Croy interception on the second possession was returned for a touchdown. An up man in the Mustangs’ return stable was separated from the ball on the ensuing kickoff, giving Glasgow the ball on the Malta 30-yard line. A few plays later Dylan Hughes found Kirk Capdeville streaking up the middle of the field and hit him with a 27-yard pass for a touchdown.

A little more than 10 minutes into the game, everything was seemingly in place for a Glasgow rout.

But nothing ever comes that easy against Malta.

The Scotties pulled the extra point wide left following the Capdeville touchdown. Then, a punt return for a touchdown by Malta’s Bryce Hill zapped any remaining Glasgow momentum and shortened the Scotties’ halftime lead to an antagonizing 13-7.

And that’s where the game stayed.

Both teams traded the ball back and forth, intermittently sprinkling long drives into three-and-outs, only to see those drives end in turnovers.
These two quick, exciting teams suddenly found themselves in a defensive nail biter.

By the time the fourth quarter came that six-point margin still stood there, keeping the fans on their toes. Both sides knew a touchdown either way could have sealed the game.

Malta fans were hoping with every drive that the Mustangs could get in the end zone. An extra point, the same point Glasgow failed to earn earlier in the game, could end the game for the home team.

Glasgow fans hoped for at least a field goal, anything that would give their team a two-score lead, and take the dreaded thought of losing by one point out of their mind.

Neither side could rest and neither defense let them.

But time and the scoreboard were on the side of the Scotties. Though the Mustangs were given had a short field to work with following a mishap on a Scotties’ punt return, the Glasgow defense stuffed the Malta approach. Junior Brandon Hansard capped the stop by sacking Malta quarterback Dan Stiles on fourth down.

The Mustangs had one more chance with three minutes to play but the Scotties stalled them again and were left to run out the clock.
As the gunshot went off and the game was over, the Scotties and their fans could finally enjoy what they had done. The team gathered and sang “My Old Bonnie Lass,” and fans sang back in equal disharmony.

And as the team ran off the field, or limped, or hung around, it was clear that everyone had earned those few extra seconds of glory.