Wolves fall in quarterfinals at Malta

The Three Forks High School Football team's season came to an end with a 59-36 quarterfinal loss on November 9 at number-one-ranked Malta.

Moments after the game, Wolves Head Coach Connor Sullivan praised the senior class, which has won 15 games over the past two seasons and advanced to the quarterfinals each year.

"They mean a lot. They were the ones who set the bar, were the leaders of our team, and played a lot of football for us. They helped build this thing up with last year's senior class, and I'm just really proud of them. We have to continue to build off of it. They set that standard, and they set that bar. We have to continue to grow off of it," Sullivan said.

After Malta scored to take a 6-0 lead on the game-opening drive, the Wolves would respond with a long drive that culminated with a 16-yard touchdown run from Sawyer Andersen. A successful two-point run from quarterback Kanon Reichman put Three Forks up 8-6 with 3:20 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Mustangs answered with a touchdown midway through the second quarter to retake the lead, 12-8. They scored one more touchdown on the last play of the first half, a 26-yard touchdown reception, to take a 19-8 lead into the break.

It would not take long for the Wolves to get back into the game. After connecting with Dylan Swenson for a long reception, Reichman found an open Sawyer Andersen for an 11-yard touchdown. Andersen would get into the end zone on the two-point conversion to cut the Malta lead to 19-16 with 9:11 left in the third quarter.

The high-powered Malta offense answered on the next play from scrimmage with an 80-yard touchdown to go up 26-16.

Two more Mustangs touchdowns would increase the lead to 39-16 with 1:10 left in the third quarter.

Three Forks would battle back in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 39-22 after an 11-yard scoring strike from Reichman to Dylan Andersen with 11:32 left in regulation.

After Malta scored to increase the lead to 46-22, a five-yard Marcus Pestel and a successful run and two-point conversion from Reichman to Andersen made it a 46-30 game with 6:01 remaining.

After another Mustang touchdown to up the lead to 52-30, the Wolves would score their final points on a one-yard Sawyer Andersen touchdown with 3:36 left in the fourth.

Sullivan said the offense played awesome and moved the ball, but Malta is a tough team to defend.

"They have really good guys. The quarterback is good, the running backs are good, and they have really good receivers. They made more plays than us at the end of the day," Sullivan said.

With the season ending, Sullivan discussed the importance of the offseason for the rising program.

"I'm a huge proponent of us in the weight room. That makes a huge difference. You can tell that with these last two classes. The kids that are seniors this year really set the bar as far as hitting the weights, and that's how it should be done. So, hopefully, a couple of younger kids will step up in the sophomore class, and the junior class will lead by example. The weight room makes a huge difference," Sullivan said.