Cowboys end Havre's season in Miles City

Though the score doesn't show it, the Havre High football team accomplished a lot over the weekend.

Playing in Miles City, the No. 3 Central A Blue Ponies were defeated by the No. 2 Eastern A Miles City Cowboys 54-26 in the opening round of the 2010 Class A playoffs.

And though it was a tough season-ending loss, the Ponies took a huge step forward on Saturday. The offense played outstanding, and though they struggled to find their way into the endzone, they gave the Cowboys one of the biggest challenges of the season.

"I though the kids were more focused and better prepared for (Miles City) than they had been all season," Havre High head coach Jason Christenson said. "They were fired up and confident, and they believed that they were going to beat this team. We played with that confidence, but after a couple of let downs we just didn't get it done."

The first half was especially close, mostly because of the Pony defense.

The Cowboys can and will run the ball very well. Every team in the state knows that's their strength, but the Ponies took that away. In the first half the Cowboys had relatively no offense on the ground. And despite a few big runs in the second half by quarterback Shane Cooley, the Pony defense continued to keep the Cowboys' rushing threat at a minimum.

"Our game plan going in was to stop the run," Christenson said. "That is their strength, and we did a fantastic job doing that. But they hurt us on some deep passes where we missed some tackles or were a little too late on our coverage. But still, I think our game plan was solid."

After the first quarter was in the books, the Cowboys held a 7-0 lead. But the Ponies' Logan Connor reeled in a one-yard pass for a score in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 7-6. The Cowboys scored another touchdown in the second quarter to go up 14-6, but overall the Ponies were in very good position heading into the break trailing by only eight points.

But the second half was a different story completely.

The once nearly tamed Miles City offense was now clicking on all cylinders. They began to find success through the air, as well as eat up some yards on the ground. But even with the high-octane offense, the Cowboys were helped out immensely by some crucial Blue Pony turnovers. The Ponies had four interceptions in the game.

The Cowboys combated the Pony defense with some new formations. The Cowboys ran a lot more five-receiver sets in the second half. They also relied more on the athleticism of Cooley, who had a hand in four of the Cowboy's touchdowns. Cooley helped lead the Cowboys to 503 total yards, completing 9-of-12 passes for 201 yards. He also finished with 140 rushing yards.

"They didn't really make any super adjustments that we weren't ready for," Christenson said. "We prepared for every formation they had, we just didn't overcome those turnovers."

HHS was able to put up 20 points in the second half. But it just wasn't enough to keep up with the pace of the Cowboys.

Connor scored his second receiving touchdown, while Casey Schaub was also able to find the endzone twice. Schaub scored on a 67-yard pass from Justin Jensen and on a one-yard carry. Schaub was a huge part of the Ponies' offense, rushing the ball 18 times for 125 yards. He also racked up 105 yard receiving for a total of 230 yards of offense.

The Ponies were able to keep the ball moving all game long. But with turnovers making it more difficult to put points on the scoreboard, the Ponies took themselves out of the contest. But on a positive note, they totaled more yards against the Cowboys than any other team this year.

Offensively for the Ponies, they were a little unorthodox. HHS ran a lot of five receivers sets, as well multiple running back sets. The Ponies also lined up in a "wildcat" type offense that resulted in direct snaps to Schuab. The Blue Pony offense ran a lot option and screen pass type plays with great success. And if the Ponies found a play that worked, they weren't afraid to run it several times in a row.

"You always want to try and catch a team off guard with different sets," Christenson said. "But with our athletes and as good as they are, we wanted to put them in the position to be successful. I really think we caught them off balance."

A loss is always tough, but a season ending playoff loss seems to add to the pain.

But the Ponies have nothing to hang their heads about. In a supposed rebuilding year the Ponies (5-4) were able to grab the No. 3 spot in the conference and challenge one of the state's top teams in the playoffs.

And with a lot of sophomores and juniors hopefully coming back next season, this loss will hopefully be the building block for the future of Havre High football.

"The kids battled through the entire time," Christenson said. "They did everything we asked them to do and exceeded our expectations with the effort the put in. I think that was a great building block, it was a tough loss, but we have been preaching all year that we need to play hard every down for four quarters and I truly believe we did that. They had a lot of successes with a couple let downs, but coming out of that game we understand our weakness and what we need to do next year to be successful. The future is bright for the Blue Ponies."

Miles City 54, Havre 26

Havre 0 6 14 6 — 26

Miles City 7 7 26 14 — 54

Havre Scoring

Logan Connor 1 pass from Justin Jensen (kick blocked)

Logan Connor 4 pass from Justin Jensen (Danny Roe kick)

Casey Schaub 67 pass from Jensen (Danny Roe kick)

Casey Schaub 1 run (run failed).

Miles City Scoring

Kyle Larson 53 pass from Shane Cooley (Andrew Abel kick)

Kyle Larson 6 pass from Shane Cooley (Andrew Abel kick)

Brian Askin 43 pass from Shane Cooley (Andrew Abel kick)

Shane Cooley 68 run (Andrew Abel kick)

Layne Johnson 5 run (kick failed)

Kyle Stanton 28 run (kick failed)

Layne Johnson 62 run (Abel kick).

Individual Havre Statistics

Rushing — Casey Schaub 18-125

Passing — Justin Jensen 22-26-280

Receiving — Casey Schaub 105 yards