By Tiffany L. Rehbein
Homecoming king Nate Baltrusch scored the only Havre Blue Pony touchdown Friday against the Fergus County Golden Eagles to cap-off homecoming festivities.
The Blue Ponies, 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the Central A, fell to conference rival Lewistown 13-7 in the homecoming game at Blue Pony Stadium.
The Golden Eagles (2-1) got on the scoreboard first with 6:13 remaining in the first quarter when junior Damen Woolsey took a hand-off into the end zone from his own 19-yard line. The 65-yard score, plus Andrew Rinaldis extra point, lifted the Eagles 7-0.
But Havre would not be quieted before their packed-house homecoming crowd. With 8:03 remaining in the second quarter, Baltrusch made an athletic catch on a ball thrown slightly behind him by senior quarterback Ricky Brown.
With six blue and gold defenders aimlessly chasing him, Baltrusch, accompanied by David Knights point after attempt, tied the game going into the half on the 74-yard pass completion.
Fergus County tallied six more points on its first possession of the second half when Mike Hansen rushed for a two-yard touchdown. The extra point attempt failed but left Lewistown atop, 13-7 for the game-winner.
I think the kids played hard, said second-year head coach, Dan Olson, but I think at times the kids were over-matched.
The Blue Pony offensive line did not match up well with the Golden Eagles as Brown was sacked three times in the game.
Defensively, however, senior Jesse Suek at defensive end recovered two fumbles for the Blue Ponies.
He played really well, Olson said. He was just hustling all over the place.
Early in the second quarter, the Ponies held the Eagles on a fourth-and-one situation behind the backs of Chris Klobofski, Landon Grant, Troy Toner and Troy Worden.
Klobofski, a leading tackler this season, went down in the second quarter with a season-ending knee injury. He will join sophomore running back Kevin Harada on the sidelines with an injury.
That is a huge blow to us, Olson said. Filling that linebacker position is going to be a challenge for us. He has been a great player all year.
Senior linemen Tyler Bebee and Willie Hullett combined for two tackles early in the third quarter to squash a Fergus County drive.
Offensively, junior Brent Finneman had 15 carries for 52 yards. Brown was 14 of 25, better than 50 percent passing, for a season-high 171 yards, connecting with Baltrusch for one touch down and senior tight end David Heberly, among others.
The Blue Ponies travel to Livingston Friday to take-on the Central A Rangers (0-2) at 7:30 p.m.
