Ponies ground Eagles in the Corral

For the Havre High football team, the Sidney game was not just another non-conference affair — it was a must-win game — not for playoff position — but for momentum and confidence. And after knocking off the Eagles, the Blue Ponies should have plenty of both.

On a memorable night, in front of a packed house at Blue Pony Stadium Friday night, the Ponies started off Festival Days with a bang, as they beat the favored Eagles 26-21 in dramatic fashion.

The win came on the heels of a 54-28 drubbing at the hands of Miles City a week ago, and improved Havre’s record to 2-2 as it gets set to begin Central A conference play this week.

“This is the reason that I came here,” HHS head coach Mark Samson said after the win. “I knew that these kids were capable of playing like this, and what a fun game. The stands were packed, the pep band was here. This is what a Friday night at Blue Pony Stadium is supposed to be like. What a great atmosphere for a high school football game.”

Samson was right, the stands were packed, but the electrifying atmosphere had a lot to do with what was happening on the field.

It began with the game’s opening drive, as quarterback Dane Warp and the Ponies marched the ball down the field on a drive that was both efficient and methodical. By the time it was over, HHS had converted three third downs and when Jase Stokes found the endzone from one-yard out, Havre took a 7-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.

Yet, Sidney (3-1) answered with its own impressive drive as the Eagles ripped of 10 runs for 72 yards to find pay dirt on a Bridger Coffman touchdown run, which tied the score at 7-7. But, thanks to Nate Rismon, the score would not be tied for long as he took the ensuing kickoff back 88 yards on a dazzling return for a score to put Havre in front 13-7, sending the Pony crowd into a frenzy.

“I found a seam and I went for it,” Rismon said. “That was the most exciting game I have ever been a part of playing for (Havre).”

The touchdown wasn’t Rismon’s first big play in the game and it certainly wouldn’t be his last. Yet, after a Nate Korb interception set up a three-yard touchdown pass from Warp to Parker Filius, putting Havre in front 19-7 at intermission, it appeared no heroics would be needed.

But, in the third quarter, Sidney showed it would not go quietly into the night and on its first drive of the second half, the Eagles bombarded Havre with a lightning-quick drive that covered 70 yards in 47 seconds. Coffman capped it with a 6-yard score, shrinking the HHS lead to 19-14 with much of the second half left to go.

With the Sidney offense looking unstoppable, it was up to Warp and the offense to turn the tide, which is exactly what it did, even if it took a couple of big catches to do it.

After moving the ball near midfield, the Ponies found themselves in a third-and-22 situation from their own 47-yard line. Clinging to a five-point lead, Warp found Rismon for 30 yards and an improbable conversion. Yet, six plays later, Havre again found itself in a desperate situation, facing a fourth-and-18 at the Eagles' 20.

At first, Samson and the Ponies trotted out the field goal unit, but after taking a time out, the head coach sent his offense back on the field. And it’s a good thing he did because Rismon out-jumped and out-fought a pair of Sidney defenders to catch Warp’s pass for a score that put Havre back up 12 at 26-14.

“I was just thinking don’t get sacked,” Warp said. “I didn’t do anything special that was all Rismon. He just made plays tonight, we saw it in the game plan that they were going to play soft on him and we wanted to take advantage of that.”

In all, the drive was 16 plays, covering 69 yards, including four third or fourth down conversions and it ate up more than seven minutes off the clock. Warp was 6-of-7 for 68 yards on the drive, while Rismon caught three passes for 55 yards.

But down 12, Sidney again scored in just over a minute to get back within five, but at that point, the Pony defense stiffened and didn’t allow another point. Three times in the fourth quarter, Sidney drove the ball into Havre territory and all three times, the Eagles were turned away.

It came to a head with less than a minute to play. The Eagles advanced the ball as far as the Havre 22-yard line but never got closer and on a fourth-and-11, tight coverage from Rismon helped force an incomplete pass that wrapped up the win once and for all.

“Our defense figured some things out,” Samson said. “We started getting our reads and our responsibilities and I thought we played pretty well. They caught us off guard with the no huddle and the spread stuff. But, then after they scored quickly on us, Dane took us on that long drive for a touchdown and that was huge, that kind of calmed everyone down.”

When it was over, Warp had put together a scintillating performance that saw him complete 23-of-29 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns. The All-State signal caller also ran 11 times for 29 yards and picked up three crucial first downs.

Rismon was equally impressive as he hauled in eight receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. He caught four passes that went for more than 20 yards and finished the game with more than 200 all-purpose yards and two scores.

“This was a huge win,” Warp said. “Everyone said Sidney was one of the top teams in the state and we needed this one. It was a total team effort, we had guys that went down, but we came back and kept fighting. It was Pony tough, that’s what it was.”

Defensively, the Ponies did allow 259 yards rushing, but they forced two turnovers and contained a Sidney offense that averaged nearly 300 yards on the ground coming into the game. Stokes led the Ponies with 14 tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Korb had seven tackles, as well as a forced fumble in addition to his interception. Travis Adams had six tackles and two tackles for loss. Filius also had 14 tackles and a pass breakup, while Rismon had 10 tackles and a pass deflection.

Havre (2-2) will turn its attention to the Central A now as it opens conference play on the road this Friday in Browning. That game will kickoff at 7 p.m.

Blue Ponies 26, Sidney 21

Sidney 7 7 7 0 - 21

Havre 13 6 7 0 - 26

HAV – Jase Stokes 1 run (PAT Good)

SID – Bridger Coffman 5 run (PAT Good)

HAV – Nate Rismon 88 Kickoff Return (PAT NO Good)

HAV – Parker Filius 3 pass from Warp (PAT NO Good)

SID – Coffman 6 run (PAT Good)

SID – Tel Hermanson 40 run (PAT Good)

HAV – Rismon 20 pass from Warp (PAT Good)

Havre Individual Statistics

Passing – Dane Warp, 23-29 228.

Rushing – Dane Warp, 19-19, Stokes 3-3, Schroeder 7-4. Filius 3-0, Rismon 1-(minus-5).

Receiving – Rismon 8-114, Filius 4-20, Stokes 4-34, Pleninger 4-44, Korb 2-12, Aageson 1-5.