Panthers drown the Blue Ponies

The Havre High football team went to Belgrade last Friday night in search of its first win. However, the Blue Ponies ran into a buzzsaw and lost a game that got away from them in the second half.

The Ponies (0-4) and Panthers (2-2) battled to a scoreless tie at the end of the first quarter, but after that it was all Belgrade. The Panthers ultimately used five rushing touchdowns and a strong defensive performance to defeat Havre 34-6.

“Going into the second half, we were down 13-0 and I felt like we still had a chance to win the football game,” HHS head coach Ryan Gatch said. “I know I keep saying this every week, but we just made too many mistakes. We had seven turnovers and you can’t win football games with that. So that’s something we need to get corrected. But the kids played hard; there is no doubt about that. We just have yet to put a football game together where we really played well in all three phases. So that’s what we are looking to achieve and obviously our goal is still to win every week.”

Looking for a win and some momentum to try and force its way back into the Eastern A playoff race, Havre struggled to get things going offensively and the only touchdown mustered up by HHS came in the fourth quarter, when Ivar Aageson busted off a 71-yard run for a score on a fake punt.

“That was a really nice run by Ivar,” Gatch said. “It was a fourth down play. We were set up to punt and they gave us a look we thought we could take advantage of. Ivar got the green light and was able to make some things happen.”

Yet, before Aageson could get the Ponies on the board, Belgrade had built an insurmountable lead. Following a scoreless opening stanza, the Panthers struck first as Easton Page scored a one-yard rushing touchdown to make it 6-0 Panthers. Then, before the half, Belgrade got another rushing touchdown, this time on an eight-yard run from Ethan Major, making the score 13-0 at intermission.

In the third quarter, it was more of the same. Page broke off a 31-yard touchdown run in the early minutes of the second half and suddenly, Belgrade was up 20-0. Late in the third Major scored his second rushing touchdown, this time from five yards out, pushing the lead to 27-0 to start the fourth quarter.

“In the second half, in the third quarter in particular, we really got backed up with field position,” Gatch said. “Then we turned the ball over too many times and they were able to capitalize on those.”

Early in the final stanza, Belgrade added another touchdown, coming from Brylee Cage. That made it 34-0, before Aageson scored on his long run to help Havre avoid being shut out.

Turnovers continued to be a major issue for the Ponies and when it was all said and done, HHS gave the ball away to Belgrade a total of seven times, with four lost fumbles and three interceptions. Havre actually outgained Belgrade 228-216, with all of Belgrade’s yardage coming on the ground. The Panthers attempted just two passes and had zero completions. Yet, thanks to 114 rushing yards and two scores for Major, as well as 83 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Page, Belgrade got more than enough offensive production to win.

Havre on the other hand, notched just 56 yards passing. Quarterback Trey Murphy finished the game completing 5-of-16 passes with three interceptions. Mason Dionne led the way on the ground for Havre with 118 yards, while Aageson had two carries for 63. Aageson also contributed with three receptions for 26 yards. Ethan Roberts also added one catch for 26 yards.

Dionne also had a solid game on defense, finishing with four tackles and two tackles for loss. Jeremiah Hughes also had four tackles with two tackles for loss, while Tanner Parsons also contributed with a sack for the second straight week.”

“I thought Mason Dionne had a heck of a game,” Gatch said. “He really carried the load for us and had some really nice runs. So it was nice to see him have a game like that.”

Havre (0-4) will be back in action this Friday, as the Ponies will travel to Glendive. Kickoff will be set for 7 p.m.

Belgrade 34, havre 6

Havre 0 0 0 6 - 6

Belgrade 0 13 14 7 - 34

Bel – Easton Page 1 run (kick blocked), 10:12

Bel – Ethan Major 8 run (Spencer Gordon kick), 4:10

Bel – Page 31 run (Gordon kick), 9:54

Bel – Major 5 run (Gordon kick), :30

Bel – Brylee Cage (John Mears), 10:10

Hav – Ivar Aageson 72 run (kick failed), 7:40

Havre Individual Stats

Passing — Trey Murphy, 5-16 56.

Rushing — Mason Dionne, 28-114; Ivar Aageson, 2-63; Jeremiah Hughes, 2 (-2); Trey Murphy 2 (-8).

Receiving — Ivar Aageson, 3-26; Ethan Roberts, 1-26; Jeremiah Hughes, 1-4.