Blue Ponies playing for the playoffs in a showdown in Lewistown

Whenever Havre and Lewistown meet on the football field, it's a big deal. Yet, tonight, when the two teams meet on the gridiron, there will be much more than just pride at stake.

Thanks to the fierce rivalry that exists between the two schools, a win over the other always brings satisfaction. But seeing as each team has a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a win and, more importantly, a home game in the first round, both the Blue Ponies and Eagles should be plenty motivated for tonight's contest, which will start at 7 p.m.

"It's a big game for us, because we need to get back on track," HHS head coach Ryan Gatch said. "Nobody wants to lose two games in a row, especially not at this time of the year. So it's big because it's the next one on our schedule."

Gatch, who lives by the one-game-at-time philosophy, said he hasn't discussed playoff scenarios or anything of the sort with his team this week. But as he indicated, his players don't need to be told it's a big game when Lewistown is on the opposite sideline.

"We haven't really talked about it much," Gatch said. "But I think that they know what it means for us. Just like us, Lewistown is good for about 14 points at home, so it's going to be a challenge for us. We need to get our students focused and ready to go down there and play a football game."

For Havre (5-2, 2-1), the biggest key is going to be avoiding the slow start that has plagued the Ponies in their previous two losses to Sidney and Belgrade. In both of those games, Havre fell behind by two touchdowns and each time, they failed to make up the deficit.

"An important thing for us is going to be getting off to a fast start," Gatch said. "We fell behind early to Sidney and Belgrade and that makes it tough. So we need to make sure we are sharp early on and get right out of the gate."

Another common theme in Havre's losses this season has been an inability to get Jase Stokes and the running game going. Last week, in the loss to Belgrade, HHS managed just 45 yards on the ground and against Sidney, the Ponies only had 100.

"That's been a big focus for us this week," Gatch said. "We lost Tyler Schaub up front and had Cody Rennick starting for the first time. So that was an adjustment. But establishing the run, like always, will be a key factor for us."

Stokes, who has rushed the ball 132 times for 830 yards (6.2 YPC), also has 13 total touchdowns for the Ponies and his ability to generate yards in the ground game will be essential. Havre will also look to Dane Flammond, who has 190 rushing yards and three scores to contribute as well.

However, unlike early in the season, the Pony offense can do much more than run the ball. In fact, junior quarterback Trey Murphy eclipsed 300 yards for the first time in his career. And with his improved play, along with the development of his wide receivers, the Havre passing game has gotten better and better.

"I think like a lot of our guys, Trey has really improved since the start of the season," Gatch said. "There was kind of some question at the start of the year, if he was the guy, but there isn't anymore. He has proven that it's his job. He has a great understanding of the offense and you can see him get more comfortable with each game."

Murphy, who has thrown for 1,039 yards this season, as well as nine touchdowns and seven interceptions, has a skilled group of pass catchers that includes Isaac Warp, who leads the team with 23 catches for 317 yards and three scores. Ivar Aageson is second with 15 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns, while Nate Korb (14-191) and Jacob LaBrie (9-107), have also made an impact.

As far as the Havre defense is concerned, the Ponies will face a Lewistown offense that started the season slowly, but is averaging 33.2 points per game in its last four outings. Much like HHS, the Eagles want to be balanced offensively and have a strong quarterback in Mitchell Norslien, who averages 120 passing yards per game. Lewistown is also good at running the ball with Isaac Fry, who is Class A's third-leading rusher, trailing only Stokes and Belgrade's Hayden Van Winkle.

"They have some talented football players." Gatch said. "They got a good quarterback, they have a good tailback, good wide receivers. They have good overall team speed. They are a lot like us and that's what you want. You want to play playoff-caliber teams this time of year. They are a really physical team, they like to be physical up front, so it should be a good battle."

While the Ponies did allow 33 points to Belgrade a week ago, the Havre defense has been strong for much of the season and have allowed opponents to reach 20 points only two times (Sidney and Belgrade). And led by Stokes, who leads the team in tackles at linebacker, and Warp, who has four interceptions at safety, HHS will be looking to get its swagger back.

"The big thing for us is that we need to get back to playing Blue Pony football," Gatch said. "We have a number of things that we needed to get cleaned up. But that's a good thing to have. We gotta be physical, and we have been giving up too many points, so we've got to secure our defense and that's something we have been working on because, defensively, we need to play better football."

Lewistown, which comes into the game 4-2 and 1-1 in the Central A, can essentially secure the No. 2 spot in the conference behind Belgrade with a win, which is the same boat Havre is in. Thus, the winner of tonight's game will clinch a berth in the Class A playoffs and a home game in the first round. The loser will need to qualify for the playoffs via the wildcard spot, which is something Gatch and the Ponies, would like to avoid.

"We talk about our goals, and our first goal was to win the conference," Gatch said. "We can't achieve that, but our other goals are to make the playoffs and a win a game in the playoffs, so we can still do that and getting a win and getting that home playoff game would be big for our students. They love Blue Pony Stadium, they get fired up to play there, so we would love to get a home playoff game."

Havre and Lewistown will kick off tonight at 7. The Ponies then close out the regular season next Friday at home against the Polson Pirates.

Tonight at 7 p.m.

in Lewistown

Radio: 610 KOJM AM