Blue Pony Football Extra: HHS put it all together at the right time

The Havre Blue Ponies didn’t just beat Columbia Falls in the quarterfinals of the Class A state playoffs — they dominated them, and in the process, made a statement about the standing of Havre football.

And that statement rang loud throughout Blue Pony Stadium Saturday — Havre football is back.

Of course, I realize the Ponies have more in front of them. They face the daunting task this Saturday of trying to knock off defending state champion Dillon, a team that just dismantled a salty Billings Central squad 32-7, in the Class A semifinals.

And even if HHS makes it to the state championship game, it would need to knock off Whitefish or Miles City, teams that dominated Havre early in the season 44-14 and 54-28, respectively. But this isn’t the same Havre team as the one that started the season and it’s definitely not the same team as it was in September.

These are the Ponies of November and right now, they are clicking on all cylinders.

There are a number of things you need to win playoff games and Havre, seemingly has them all. A great quarterback? Check. A running game? Check. Big-play receivers? Check. Solid play in the trenches? Check. Defense? Special teams? Check and check.

It’s all coming together for head coach Mark Samson’s team and it was all on display against Columbia Falls,the team that finished second in the Northwest A.

Let’s start with the quarterback. Because come playoff time, that position matters more. And Saturday, Havre quarterback Dane Warp was a maestro.

Over the course of his career, Warp has had some great games and great moments — but, up to this point anyway, his performance against the Wildcats represented his finest hour.

The senior made one mistake — a second quarter fumble — but outside of that, he was flawless. Three touchdown passes. No interceptions. Two rushing touchdowns. Numerous key third-down conversions.

What Havre fans witnessed was a quarterback in complete control and if Warp can keep it up for one or possibly two more weeks, he can transform himself from a great quarterback, into a legendary one.

The Ponies may have rolled to a 34-point win, but Columbia Falls didn’t make it easy on Havre and they certainly weren’t a push over, they just had no answer for Warp and his band of playmaking receivers. Havre ran the ball well, there’s no doubt about that, but when the Wildcats relive this game, it will be Warp, Parker Filius and Nate Rismon who will haunt them most.

When it comes to Rismon, it seems that all he does is make big plays and catch touchdowns. And Saturday, against Columbia Falls, he found pay dirt twice, hauling in touchdown passes of 33 and 21 yards respectively.

Filius was also a big play waiting to happen. Not only did he have a reception for 72 yards and another for more than 20, he also returned a kickoff 85 yards to put the finishing touch on a Pony beat down.

Yet, as coach Samson said after the game, Havre dominated in all three phases of the game. The defense held a Columbia Falls team that averaged 33 points a game during the regular season to a mere 13. And six of those points came when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Yes, the defense, much-maligned at one time, has found its way. The Ponies stuffed the run, pressured the passer and did what all good defenses do — take the ball away — four times in fact.

And perhaps most encouragingly for Havre, is the way it handled the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball. The offense again ran more than 150 yards, Jase Stokes went over 100 by himself and HHS scored three rushing touchdowns.

Stokes succeeded in part because of a wrinkle that had him running out of spread sets, but also thanks to an offensive line that imposed its will and dominated the defensive front of Columbia Falls.

The point is, the Ponies are peaking at the right time. They have won seven straight games and thanks to the work of Samson and his coaching staff, they continue to get better and better.

Sure, the Dillon team Havre will face this coming Saturday is a different animal. And yes, the Ponies will need to be at their absolute best to beat the Beavers.

But that’s a story for another week.

For now, Havre fans should sit back and enjoy the glorious day they experienced at Blue Pony Stadium last Saturday and revel in the fact that, even though its 2015 season is far from finished, Havre football has proven it belongs among the elite teams in Class A.