George Ferguson Column: Destiny takes Blue Ponies from one rival to another

It was fate that brought the Havre Blue Ponies and Miles City Cowboys back together last Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium.

And as it turned out, Havre was destined to win. The Blue Ponies certainly seemed like a team of destiny, clawing their way back from a 20-7 deficit in the second half, and making one, final defensive stand to preserve a coveted Class A playoff win.

And fate and destiny sure seem to be theme for the Blue Ponies this November, because now Havre goes from one longtime playoff rival to another.

On Saturday, the Ponies will hook up with the Columbia Falls Wildcats in Columbia Falls, in what should be another exciting playoff game. After all, the Wildcats are one of the top offensive teams in Class A, and like Havre, they are a pass-happy squad with an outstanding quarterback and speedy wide receivers.

So, like against Miles City, the Pony defense will be challenged, the Pony defense will be tested, and to put it bluntly, the Pony defense will be called upon to make big stops, just as they did against the Cowboys last week in Havre.

But just like last Saturday’s matchup between HHS and Miles City, this one, between the Blue Ponies and Wildcats seemed meant to be. Why you ask? Because Havre and Columbia Falls had a nice little rivalry brewing a few years back, and it’s long overdue that two of the biggest schools in Class meet again on the gridiron.

Like the way it will be in Saturday’s game in Columbia Falls, in the early 2000’s, the Blue Ponies and Wildcats were known as two of the best offensive teams in Montana. And they showed it against each other. In 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, Havre and Columbia Falls met five times, including once in the Class A playoffs, and in each game, offense was on display.

Those games were all memorable, but the best on in the series might have been the first. Havre traveled to Columbia Falls in September of 2003 for an early-season showdown. I’ll never forget that game because I drove down for it, and had to drive through one of the worst forest fires in recent memory in order to get there. I’ll never forget that drive, or that game. I’ll never forget the drive because going through Glacier National Park was like driving through a smoke machine, and the smoke from the fires was actually coming into the car through the air conditioner. But I’ll never forget that night, because when the skies cleared in Columbia Falls, it was a beautiful setting for football, and when Daine Solomon returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a score, it set the tone for what was a wild shoot out, one in which the Blue Ponies narrowly prevailed.

In fact, Havre won all but one of its meetings with the Wildcats during that five-game series, and now, the rivalry is renewed. Sure, all of the current Blue Ponies and Wildcats were too young to really know or understand just how great those Havre/Columbia Falls games were back then. But now, they get to write their own chapter in what has always been a great matchup.

And I for one believe it’s destiny that brought these two Class A schools back together. Havre was destined to beat Miles City last Saturday. The Blue Pony defense was destined to rise up and stop the powerful Cowboys from scoring what would have been a game-winning touchdown in the final seconds last weekend in Blue Pony Stadium, and Havre was destined to keep its season alive.

And sure enough, the Blue Ponies fulfilled their destiny. Now, destiny resets itself, and the Blue Ponies get a shot at putting their own mark on what was once a storied Class A rivalry.

Note: For a complete preview of Havre's Class A quarterfinal at Columbia Falls, see Friday's Havre Daily News.