Dillon halts Pony Stampede

The Havre Blue Ponies had hopes of hosting next week’s Class A football championship, but shortly after taking the field in Dillon, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen.

The Beavers, who have been nearly unbeatable on their home field, showed why this past Saturday, as they dominated Havre from start to finish in a 43-8 rout in the Class A state semifinals at Vigilante Stadium. Dillon will now advance to take on Whitefish next Saturday in the state championship game.

"Honestly, we just didn't play very good," HHS head coach Mark Samson said. "Top to bottom, I probably could have done some different things to try and get them ready for it. We came out and the field wasn't in very good condition. In the beginning of the game, I thought we were worried too much about it. Dillon didn't worry about the field and we got ourselves in such a hole that we couldn't get out of it."

The Ponies, who had been dominant offensively during a seven-game winning streak, drove to the Dillon 27-yard line on the game’s opening possession but after failing to pick up a fourth down, they turned it over on downs.

The Beavers didn’t waste any time taking advantage as quarterback Troy Andersen scampered 53 yards for a touchdown to put Dillon in front 8-0. HHS punted on its next possession and again, Dillon came up with a big play as R.J. Fitzgerald ran 24 yards for a touchdown to make it 15-0.

Following another Havre punt, the Beavers took to the air as Andersen can be just as deadly throwing as running and he connected with Troy Walker on a 41-yard touchdown pass to make the score 22-0 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Dillon special teams got in on the act and returned a Havre punt to the 24, which set up an 11-yard touchdown run by Nate Simkins to put Dillon ahead 29-0. Then, after a fumble recovery, Dillon scored again as Andersen found Payton Lafrentz for a 34-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 36-0.

After another Pony punt, Dillon put an exclamation point on a near-perfect half of football with yet another touchdown pass from Andersen, who hit Simkins from 11 yards out for the score to make it 43-0 at half in favor of Dillon.

With the mercy rule in effect, there were few opportunities for either team to do much in the second half, but late in the game, Havre finally hit pay dirt on a four-yard touchdown run that made the final score 43-8.

The Pony defense simply had no answer for Andersen, who threw for 179 yards, ran for 65 more and accounted for five touchdowns, four passing and one rushing. Simkins also finished the game with three touchdowns, two receiving and one rushing.

"Give credit to Dillon," Samson said. "They are a great football team. A lot of people said they aren't as good as they have been in recent seasons, but they just don't make any mistakes. They don't do anything fancy, they just do everything well."

The loss ends the season for Havre (8-3) and the career of quarterback Dane Warp. The soon-to-be, four-time All-State performer, finished the game with just 143 yards passing and no touchdowns. Despite that, Warp will go out as the all-time leader in MHSA history in both passing yards and touchdown passes in 11-man football.

"I think the best thing for Dane is that he went out a winner," Samson said. "I told him that after the game. I thought he learned this year how to play in a system and, of course, statistically he was one of the best quarterbacks in the state. But he had a great year and I wish I had him for one more."

The Beavers have now won 18 straight games and nine consecutive games in the postseason. Dillon will attempt to win its third consecutive state title this Saturday, and their fourth in five years, against Whitefish.

Despite the loss, Samson had good things to say about his first season as the head coach in Havre and he believes the outlook for the future is bright.

"It was a good year," Samson said. "I told the kids that this should be our goal every year. I know that it depends on what kind of talent and things that you have, but I thought we got a lot better from the start of the season until now. I thought coming into the Dillon game that we were a good football team, and I still think we are a good football team. We just need to put some work in the offseason and if the kids dedicate themselves I think we will be alright."

Beavers 43, Blue Ponies 8

HAVRE 0 0 0 8 – 8

DILLON 22 21 0 0 – 43

DILLON – Troy Andersen 53 run (run good)

DILLON – Gabe Hupp 9 pass from Andersen (Payton Lafrentz kick)

DILLON – Nate Simkins 6 pass from Andersen (Lafrentz kick)

DILLON – Simkins 11 run (Lafrentz kick)

DILLON – Lafrentz 31 pass from Andersen (Lafrentz kick)

DILLON – Simkins 14 pass from Andersen (Lafrentz kick)

Havre - Jazz Shroeder 2 run (Conversion Good).

No individual stats available