Cowboys thinking about nothing but Blue Ponies

When the Havre Blue Ponies look across the sideline this Saturday in the opening round of the Class A State football playoffs, they will see a familiar foe, the Miles City Cowboys.

Havre and Miles City have a long tradition of meeting in the postseason, including playing once in the state championship game and two other times in the semifinals. Last season, the two teams met in the first round of the playoffs at Blue Pony Stadium, when the Ponies snuck out a dramatic come-from-behind victory.

Yet, Saturday’s clash will also be a rematch of a 27-19 home victory the Cowboys registered over the Ponies in the second week of the season. It was a game that came down to big plays and in the end, the Cowboys made more than HHS.

But, both teams have changed immensely since that Friday night in early September and each are prepping for another classic battle as Miles City hosts Havre for the second time this season.

“It should be another good one,” Miles City head coach Dan Stanton said. “Seems like we play (HHS) twice every two years, which is what we have done the last couple of years.”

Including their win over Havre, the Cowboys went 7-2 this season and 4-1 in the Eastern A, good enough to take second place in arguably the most competitive league in Class A football. And in a statistic that does not bode well for the Ponies, the Cowboys were 5-0 at home this season.

“I don’t remember ever going down there and getting a win,” HHS head coach Jason Christenson said. “It’s a very tough place to play. They have a great tradition and some great fans and that makes it tough.”

Havre was not the only playoff team Miles City managed to knock off in 2014 as the Cowboys also defeated Eastern A rival Laurel, another team in the 12-team field, 21-13 earlier in the season.

However, in order to wrap up a home game for the first round of the playoffs, the Cowboys needed a road win over Sidney in the final game of the season, which they achieved by the score of 20-7 last Friday.

The only losses on the season for Miles City came against Billings Central and Belgrade, two legitimate state title contenders. The 34-25 loss to Belgrade, the champion of the Central A, came back Sept. 20, while the 41-14 loss to Billings Central, the Eastern A champion, took place Oct. 11.

“I think a big key for us was being more diverse on offense this season,” Stanton said. “I think that we have thrown the ball a bit more than we have in the past. We are still a running team but that is part of it. And also a lot of it is the maturity of our kids. We have a lot of kids that have played since they were sophomores, so that helps a lot and also we play a tough non-conference schedule, which really helps prepare you.”

The Cowboys’ diverse offense averaged 32.1 points per game this season behind the stellar play of Alex Haughigan, who plays both quarterback and wide receiver for the Cowboys and was essential in the win over Havre earlier this season, scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns.

While the Miles City offense has excelled, the defense may be the biggest reason why they are playing football in November after surrendering just 16 points a game. Perhaps, the most impressive thing about the Cowboy defense is that only three teams have scored more than 20 points on them all season.

Miles City may have the ability to make a deep run in the playoffs but one thing they aren’t doing is looking past the Ponies, who have an explosive offense led by All-State quarterback Dane Warp and more than enough talent to pull the upset.

“We have talked about this weekend and that’s it,” Stanton said. “A lot of the fans say this and that, but we are just focused on getting ready for Saturday and taking care of business there. If we do that we will see what happens.”

The Ponies and Cowboys are set to do battle this Saturday in Miles City with the opening kickoff set for noon.