2017 Havre High Football Preview: Athletic Ponies ready for a run

For the Havre High football team, 2016 was a tale of two seasons. The team started 3-0 and won five of the first six games, before injuries and a difficult closing stretch doomed the team's playoff chances.

The Blue Ponies did lose some key players from last season's team, but with starting quarterback Trey Murphy back under center and head coach Ryan Gatch in his second season at the helm, Havre is ready to get back in the playoff hunt.

"I think the guys are hungry," Gatch said. "They have been working really hard and they put in a lot of time this summer. It's a process, but so far things have been going really well."

Every team suffers losses to graduation, but the Ponies suffered key departures on both sides of the ball. Jase Stokes, an All-State performer was Havre's top running back and its best defender. Isaac Warp, another All-State defender, is also gone, as is Nate Korb, a two-way starter at wide receiver and safety.

While the Ponies will need to replace Stokes' 861 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, the offense will have the advantage of Murphy being back under center. The senior missed a start late in the season due to injury, but before that, he tossed 11 touchdown passes. He also completed better than 54 percent of his throws and threw for more than 1,100 yards.

"Working with Trey has been fantastic," Gatch said. "It's great to have him coming back. He is doing a great job of leading the offense for us and he does a good job of getting the ball out to our skill guys."

In Warp and Korb, Murphy lost two of his top three receivers, but with Ivar Aageson, who was second on the team with 312 receiving yards, back for his senior season, along with junior Ethan Roberts, the Ponies have no shortage of athletes on the perimeter. Seniors Jacob Irvin and Brady Ophus will both be in the mix, along with sophomore Tanner Parsons, who moved over from quarterback to WR.

"Ivar has been doing good, he has been improving health wise, he is about 100 percent," Gatch said. "Ethan Roberts is a guy that has been a pleasant surprise for us. He's a mover and a shaker. Jacob Irvin also had a really good camp. He had a really great school year and also had a great summer. Brady Ophus has also been doing good and having Tanner Parsons out at receiver is also helping. He's a good football player."

With five athletes at receiver and a veteran quarterback, the passing game should be formidable for the Ponies in 2017, but it will also feature something new, a tight end, as junior Tyson Sangrey leads a group of players at the position ready to make a bigger impact.

"Tyson is a good athlete, he is someone we will try to throw the ball to," Gatch said. "Last year, we didn't really have any tight ends, but this year we have some guys at that position, so it's something we will try to get involved a little more in the passing game."

Throwing the football will be a big part of the Havre offense, but the ground game will still be a big focus, even with the graduation of Stokes and Dane Flammond. One key will be the continued development of sophomore Mason Dionne, who rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman. He will be joined in the backfield by senior Jazz Schroeder, who missed almost the entire 2016 season due to injury. Jeremiah Hughes will also see snaps at both running back and fullback.

"It's good having Jazz back," Gatch said. "He is close to being 100 percent, but we are going to bring him along slow. Our focus with him is to have him for the entire season, so we want to be smart."

Of course, the success of both the running game and the passing game will depend largely on the success of the offensive line, which is without key players such as Jared Sienkowski and Tyler Schaub. Sienkowski graduated and Schaub is not playing after his junior year ended with a knee injury. Tony Antley and Brock Smith are both returning starters. Taylor Gopher, Austin Ratliff, David Duke, Quinn Springer and Daniel Ogden are others in the mix for playing time.

"Just about every team is trying to figure out their top five guys," Gatch said. "And we have been too, but we like the depth that we have. We feel like we have seven guys that can play. We will see, we don't have as much size as we had last year, but we have some tough guys."

On the defensive side of the ball, Havre is also losing a number of key starters such as Stokes, Warp, Korb, Chris Gabrielsen, Flammond and Sienkowski. But on the plus side, the secondary, like the receiving group, is deep and talented. Ophus is back at corner after notching one of the team's eight interceptions. Irvin will start at the other corner spot, while Aageson and Roberts will be the starting safeties.

The linebackers also look solid, with Dionne, one of the team's leading tacklers, back at his spot. He will start alongside Schroeder and Dawson Kinsella. Hughes is another that should get on the field. Up front, the defensive line offers plenty of experience with Smith, Ratliff and Gopher all back after playing significant snaps in 2016. Sangrey is another starter at defensive end. Duke and Springer should also make contributions.

"I think we have some really good athletes defensively," Gatch said. "We moved Ivar back to safety and we really like that tandem of him and Ethan (Roberts). Jacob (Irvin) and Brady (Ophus) also give us two good guys out there at corner."

In terms of overall talent, Havre has enough to contend for the Class A playoffs, but after shifting into the 10-team Eastern A, making the playoffs will be anything but easy. The top six teams in the conference will qualify, but with Billings Central, Laurel, Belgrade, Miles City, Sidney, Lewistown, Havre, Livingston, Glendive and Hardin all in the same conference, nothing is a given.

With the new conference also comes a new schedule and after playing just a few conference games in the Central A, HHS will now play a schedule that includes nine games, all within the Eastern A. The annual non-conference rivalry game with Whitefish is no longer part of the schedule. But it gives Havre a chance to take on other marquee games like when Laurel comes to Havre Sept. 8. The Ponies will also play Lewistown much earlier than normal. The two teams used to meet later in the season, but this year the two rivals will meet Sept. 1 at Blue Pony Stadium in a critical matchup with playoff implications.

Other key games will come against Belgrade on the road Sept. 15, as well as a home game against Sidney Sept. 29, before road trips to Billings Central (Oct. 6) and Miles City (Oct. 20) to close the season. The final regular season home game will be Oct. 13 against Livingston. The season opener is Friday in Hardin and the Class A state playoffs will start Oct. 28 with the state championship game scheduled for Nov. 18.