Running Wild: Blue Ponies sink Pirates

Breaking out of a slump is not an easy thing to do in football, but the Havre Blue Ponies sure made it look that way.

After dropping back-to-back Central A Conference games, the Blue Ponies stepped out of conference play to take on the Polson Pirates Friday night at Blue Pony Stadium. And, behind a ferocious running attack, and big plays all over the field, the Ponies tasted victory with a 39-21 win over the Northwest A Pirates.

"This was a good win," HHS sophomore tailback Parker Filius said. "It gives us confidence going into this last game against Browning, and hopefully into the playoffs where we can go beat some teams."

Filius, as well as the rest of the Blue Pony running game was as effective as it has been all season long, as the Ponies piled up 308 yards on the ground against a young Polson defense that had no answer.

"We were able to establish a run game tonight," Havre head coach Jason Christenson said. "The offensive line played really well tonight. They did a great job. All the kids we handed the ball to ran really hard tonight and the o-line played great. We proved tonight we can run the football, and run it well. So my hat's off to our kids for doing that tonight."

After a quiet first quarter, the Ponies did establish themselves on offense. A couple of big runs on the first drive of the second stanza by quarterback Dane Warp set HHS up deep in Polson territory. And Warp cashed in with a short flare to Jase Stokes to put the Ponies ahead 6-0.

Havre continued to churn out yards on the ground in the second period, and the Ponies upped their lead to 14-0 when Kody Pribyl ripped off a 23-yard TD run, and Warp ran in a 2-point conversion with 4:49 left in the first half.

HHS's defense was also stifling the Pirates' run game, and they turned a Polson miscue into a third straight Pony score in the second quarter.

Senior Jase Kato picked off Polson's Wyatt DuCharme, and on the next play, Warp drilled a pass to sophomore Jacob Labrie to put HHS ahead 20-0. DuCharme bounced back and threw a 44-yard TD pass to Jacob Harrod, but the Ponies had already rushed for well over 100 yards, and they took a 20-6 lead into the locker room.

"I thought we played a really good game defensively," Christenson said. "I thought we established ourselves defensively early, and got some good stops. The kids played really hard and really well tonight."

Indeed. Havre's defense was in control, and in turn, the Ponies made the second half their own.

With 2:57 left in the third quarter, Warp hit Labrie for a second time to give HHS a 26-7 lead. Warp was the catalyst on the drive the whole way, making key throws to Nate Korb and Filius to convert a couple of third downs, while also picking up more yards with his feet. Polson answered with a DuCharme TD pass, but HHS came right back as Filius ran 13 yards up the middle to put his team in front 32-14.

Then came the back breaker.

On Havre's first drive of the fourth quarter, Pribyl got around the edge and raced 43 yards to the house, giving HHS a big cushion at 39-14. The Pirates added a late score, but Havre was certainly the dominant team from start to finish.

Pribyl rushed for 115 yards on 10 carries, while Warp ran for 73 yards on 15 totes. Stokes finished with 62 yards on nine carries, while Filius had 11 carries for 56 yards. It was an impressive running display by the Ponies, and one that Polson could do little to stop.

"We ran the ball a lot better, we controlled the ball better than we have in previous games," Filius said, "and that set up our passing game better. We were just much more efficient tonight and that's a big plus."

In the passing game, Warp was a stellar 23-of-28 for 200 yards and three TDs. Labrie caught a career-high six passes for 64 yards and two scores, while Filius had eight grabs for 56 yards. Isaac Warp and Stokes each caught four balls as well.

Defensively, Havre was also outstanding. Facing a young, but talented Polson squad, the Ponies held the Pirates to just 240 yards of offense and a mere 100 on the ground. Jace Billy had 11 tackles, while Ruben Stewart had a huge game, with eight stops and a sack. Gunnar Aageson had eight tackles and Stokes added six.

And though Friday night's win over the Pirates doesn't change Havre's (3-5, 1-2) position in the Central A, as the Ponies will look to wrap up third place this Friday night against Browning, Christenson said it does a lot for his team going forward. And he was just happy to see his kids smiling again.

"The kids played well, I'm just happy for them, I feel good for them," he said. "It's kind of a long road when you're losing. And when you get a win, against a pretty good Polson team, it feels good. I think we got our confidence back up. Everybody played as a unit tonight. The kids played well tonight. I think we found each other tonight, and that's huge for this team. I'm just really happy for these kids."

Havre will wrap up the regular season when the Ponies host the Browning Indians Friday night at 7 at Blue Pony Stadium. It will be senior night for HHS as well.

Blue Ponies 39, Polson 21

Polson 0 7 7 7 - 21

Havre 0 20 12 7 - 39

H – Jace Stokes 1 pass from Dane Warp (kick failed)

H – Kody Pribyl 24 run (Warp run)

H – Jacob Labrie 5 pass from Warp (kick failed)

P – Jacob Harrod 44 pass from Wyatt Ducharme (Harrod kick)

H – Labrie 10 pass from Warp (pat failed)

P – Matthew Rensvold 45 pass from Ducharme (Harrod kick)

H – Parker Filius 13 pass from Warp (pat failed)

H – Pribyl 43 run (Aageson kick)

P – Bridger Rowley 24 run (Harrod kick)

Individual Leaders

Rushing - Kody Pribyl 10-115, Dane Warp 15-73, Jase Stokes 9-62, Parker Filius 11-56, Chris Gabrielson 1-2.

Passing - Dane Warp 23-28-200.

Receiving - Parker Filius 8-56, Jacob Labrie 6-64 2, Isaac Warp 4-38, Jase Stokes 4-28, Nate Korb 1-14.