Friday's Prep Football: Havre knocks off Sidney

The Havre Blue Ponies needed a win and Friday night, in a hard-fought football game with Sidney, they got it.

Thanks to three critical fourth-quarter stops, Havre managed to hold off the Eagles and escape Blue Pony Stadium with a 26-21 victory. Havre is now 2-2 on the season and will travel to Browning to open Central A conference play next week.

The drama may have lasted into the fourth quarter, but the big plays came early. With the score tied at 7-7 in the first quarter, Nate Rismon made one of many game-changing plays as he returned a Sidney kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to put Havre in front 13-7.

Later, in the third quarter, Rismon struck again. Twice on a scoring drive, Rismon hauled in a pass to convert fourth-and-long. And with the ball at the Sidney 22-yard line on a fourth-and-18, Dane Warp threw it up to Rismon, who caught a touchdown pass over two Eagle defenders to give the Ponies a 26-14 lead.

"That was all him," Warp said of the play. "I threw it up and he made a great play. He deserves all the credit."

Sidney pulled within five late in the third quarter, but failed to get the go-ahead score on three drives into Havre territory in the fourth quarter. And when the Havre defense held on a fourth-down play in the final minute, the game was over.

"This is why I came here," HHS head coach Mark Samson said. "I knew these kids were capable of playing this way. This was a lot of fun. What a great, high school atmosphere."

Friday's Scores

The Associated Press

PREP FOOTBALL

Arlee 46, Charlo 20

Baker/Plevna 22, Huntley Project 20

Belt 48, Fort Benton 14

Big Sandy 32, Augusta 6

Bigfork 47, St. Ignatius 14

Billings Senior 32, Butte 7

Billings West 41, Missoula Hellgate 0

Chinook 34, Simms 12

Colstrip 46, Red Lodge 6

Columbia Falls 54, Browning 8

Columbus 42, Three Forks 0

Custer-Hysham 51, Reed Point-Rapelje 12

Cut Bank 47, Harlem 6

Dillon 43, Polson 7

Fairfield 43, Townsend 14

Fairview 72, Plentywood 36

Flint Creek 44, Superior 14

Florence 14, Eureka 12

Great Falls Russell 50, Billings Skyview 28

Hamilton 42, Corvallis 14

Hardin 49, Livingston 0

Harlowton 79, Absarokee 22

Havre 26, Sidney 21

Helena 21, Missoula Sentinel 17

Helena Capital 17, Bozeman 16

Jefferson (Boulder) 31, Choteau 0

Joliet 42, Lodge Grass 6

Kalispell Flathead 52, Missoula Big Sky 13

Kalispell Glacier 53, Great Falls 36

Laurel 25, Butte Central 18

Lewistown (Fergus) 21, Glendive 6

Malta-Whitewater-Saco 28, Roundup 22

Manhattan 40, Shelby 0

Miles City 52, Belgrade 26

Missoula Loyola 24, Troy 15

Savage 63, Jordan 28

Shepherd 20, Forsyth 14, OT

Thompson Falls 28, Ronan 14

Twin Bridges 54, Park City 14

Victor 44, Darby 18

Whitefish 47, Stevensville 0

Whitehall 35, Conrad 14

Wolf Point 60, Poplar 6