When fans walk into Blue Pony Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and when they look to the East end of the field to check the score or the time on the clock, they will certainly enjoy the view.
The Havre High football team won’t be the only debut when the Ponies take on Whitefish on Saturday, instead a brand new scoreboard will also be running for the first time at Blue Pony Stadium.
Earlier this summer, Havre Public Schools installed a brand new Daktronics scoreboard in the stadium, complete with a beautifully arched Blue Pony Stadium sign atop. The new board replaces 30 years of history with the old one, and it was time for a fresh one.
“I think we got a good 30 years out of the old scoreboard,’ Havre High Principle Dennis Murphy said. “Last year, it shorted out on us and we did what we had to to patch it and it got us through last year.
“A new scoreboard isn’t something you really budget for but we were in need of a new one,” Murphy added. “And through our advertising and our corporate sponsorship monies, we were able to do that. That’s where the money came from and no taxpayer dollars went to the purchase of the board.”
The new board cost around $20,000 and is a state-of-the-art Daktronics model, something Havre High uses in its gym and at Mustang Field at the Havre Middle School track and football facility. According to Murphy, the board is also capable of future expansion for an electronic reader board or a video screen if and when the time comes for such things.
“The scoreboards in our gym and at the middle school are Daktronics and we’ve had a lot of success with them,” Murphy said. “So that’s why we went with that company. It’s also very user friendly for the people who will be operating it and it’s designed to be raised up if we are ever able to expand it with a reader board a screen or anything like that. So it’s a very nice addition to our facility.”
And not only is it user-friendly and also necessary, but the new board and the Blue Pony Stadium sign above it will only enhance what is already one of the nicest and most unique high school football stadiums in Montana.
“Blue Pony Stadium is a very unique place,” Murphy said. “And this is just something else to add to it and to make our facility even better.
“There is a lot of pride in Blue Pony Nation and when people walk in the stadium and that’s what they see, it just really stands out. Our community has a lot of pride in our football program and so do the kids in this community who play. It’s an honor for kids when they finally get to play at the stadium and I think this scoreboard and the sign really bring that pride and our stadium to another level. Our stadium is a very unique and a special place to play football and I think this new scoreboard just adds to that.”
The Ponies will start putting points on the new scoreboard Saturday at 2 p.m. when they host the Whitefish Bulldogs at Blue Pony Stadium.
