Road Test: Ponies visit rival Cowboys

For the first time in the 2015 season, the Havre High football team will hit the road. And when the Blue Ponies reach their destination, they will see a familiar face — the Miles City Cowboys.

The last time Havre and Miles City met was last year in the Class A state playoffs. The Cowboys bested HHS 48-47 in overtime, ending the Ponies’ season. Now, the two teams, both playoff hopefuls again, will converge for a highly anticipated rematch tonight at Denton Field. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m.

“Miles City is a good football team,” HHS head coach Mark Samson said. “They have a good program. They are expected to be in the playoffs again this year, so it will be a challenge for us.”

Samson and the Ponies come into tonight’s game with a 1-1 record after falling to Whitefish 44-12 and defeating Hardin 14-13 last week. And even though the results have been mixed thus far, Samson believes his team is getting better each week.

“Any time you have a new coaching staff come in there is going to be an adjustment,” Samson said. “No matter how much talent you have. We are going through that adjustment right now, but I think we are getting better. I think we got better this week. We just need to get more consistent.”

One thing the Ponies have done consistently so far this season is let opposing offenses run all over them. Whitefish racked up 320 yards in the season-opening game and Hardin rushed for more than 250 last Friday, with Connor Murdock rushing for more than 200 just by himself.

“Teams are going to look at the film and they are going to try and do the same thing,” Samson said. “We just need to get our keys. Last week, we didn’t get our keys and a kid went off for over 200 yards on us.”

But as much as the running game has tested the Havre defense in the first two weeks, the Cowboys will surely test them with the pass as well, especially with quarterback Matthew Blunt running the show. Blunt, who is in his first season as a full-time starter, has led the Cowboys to a 2-0 record and is coming off a four-touchdown game against Lewistown in a 38-13 win last Friday.

Yet, the Cowboys have a balanced attack that also features two talented runners in Jared Bartlett and Jacob Morris. When Blunt goes to throw it, both backs have shown a penchant for catching the ball out of the backfield, but receivers Tyler Burk and Wyatt Lesh are two others the Ponies will need to concern themselves with.

“Their quarterback throws the ball pretty well and they have some decent receivers,” Samson said. “They have some speed, their running backs aren’t bad and they have a good returner. They have some talent. And they are pretty good up front on the offensive line and the defensive line.”

When the Ponies have the ball, a big part of what they do will be based on All-State quarterback Dane Warp, who comes into the game with a chance to set new MHSA records for career touchdown passes and passing yards. Warp currently has 82 touchdown passes, which has him tied for the record and when it comes to passing yards, he has 8,815, which puts him just 92 yards shy of the mark.

So far this season, Warp is averaging just over 200 yards passing. He has also tossed four touchdown passes compared to two interceptions. His top target thus far has been All-State receiver Parker Filius, who has 10 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Nate Rismon has also been a playmaker on the outside with nine receptions for 128 yards and two scores of his own.

Yet, as much as the Ponies want to get Warp going, they want to get more done on the ground. In two games, the Ponies are averaging just over 60 yards a game rushing and leading rusher Jase Stokes has just 95 yards on 30 attempts, which is little more than three yards a carry.

“We just need to do a better job of running the ball,” Samson said. “Dane has been playing well for us, but if we can run the ball then we can take some pressure off of him.”

On defense, Stokes has been a leader for Havre and registered a game-sealing interception last week against Hardin. He and Filius will be a big part of things at the linebacker position, while a secondary that features Rismon and Ivar Aageson at cornerback, as well as Logan Pleninger and Nate Korb at safety will also be key.

The Ponies and Cowboys will tee it up in non-conference action tonight at 6 in Miles City. It will be the school’s fifth-meeting in the last three seasons. Havre is back home to host the Sidney Eagles next Friday night.