Locomotives steamroll the Blue Ponies

The Havre High football team went into the second home game of the season with high spirits. Unfortunately, the Ponies game against the Laurel Locomotives did not go as planned in a 43-7 loss Friday night in Blue Pony Stadium.

The game did not look close on the scoreboard, but the two teams both had some struggles on the field. In the end, the victory came down to who capitalized on opportunities throughout the game.

Havre head coach Ryan Gatch knows his team did not play their best game, but he is aware that his team played till the end.

"I know what we did today," said Gatch. "We had a lot of unforced errors, very uncharacteristic of our team and that's obviously something we're going to correct. We fought there till the end. I thought our kids played hard."

Unforced errors put the Ponies in several unfortunate situations, but so did penalties. It was often that a big play for Havre was called back because of a penalty, keeping the Blue Pony offense hindered through the game.

Havre opened the first half with a very promising drive. The Ponies started on their own 26-yard line and senior running back Mason Dionne rushed to the Havre 41 for a big gain. Then, Laurel's defense drove the Ponies back and ended Havre's starting drive with an interception.

The Locomotives took over on their own 44-yard line. After some big gains and two first downs, Laurel junior quarterback Eli Aby threw a great pass to his receiver to set up the team on the Havre 5-yard line. From there, Aby threw a dart for a touchdown, putting Laurel in the lead 7-0.

Havre's next drive saw a good march down the field, but a delay-of-game penalty and an incomplete pass gave the ball right back to the Locomotives. Laurel capitalized, utilizing Aby's passing and running skills to push down the field once again. A deep pass from Aby put Laurel in great position at the Havre 27-yard line. The 53-yard drive would end with the Locomotives driving to the goal line and Aby sneaking through the Blue Pony defense for another score, extending Laurel's lead 14-0 with 4:26 left in the first quarter.

The second quarter looked to give the Ponies some confidence. Once more, the Havre defense kept the Laurel offense restricted on the drive. Unfortunately, the Blue Pony offense failed to take advantage of a Laurel error as a facemask penalty and a botched snap accompanied by an incomplete pass forced Havre to give the ball right back.

The Locomotive's next drive started on their own 32-yard line and the offense marched down the field to Havre's 24-yard line. Aby passed to senior wide receiver Keagan Campbell for a great catch to the Ponies' 15. A quarterback keep by Aby and a nine-yard run to the pylon put Laurel ahead 21-0.

The rest of the half proved fruitless for the Ponies and ended with no score on the board. But a Blue Pony drive in the third quarter gave the team some hope. The drive started on the Laurel 17-yard line after the Ponies capitalized on a botched punt. Havre lost some yards on a sack, but a connection from sophomore quarterback Trenton Maloughney to sophomore receiver Orion Thivierge set up a 26-yard pass from Maloughney to senior running back Kellen Detrick for a touchdown, cutting Laurel's lead 21-7.

"We were able to get out. We threw the ball around a little bit," said Gatch. "Not quite as much accuracy, had some problems in protection, but you know what? We're going to get better at that."

The score gave Havre some fire, but the Locomotives extinguished it quickly.

Laurel scored again on a 68-yard drive with an Aby to Campbell four-yard pass. Then, a messy snap by Havre on its next possession was kicked out of the endzone to grant the Locomotives a safety, putting them up 30-7.

Two more drives from Laurel resulted in touchdowns. A 17-yard pass and a nine-yard run pushed the Locomotive lead to 43-7. The rest of the second half was uneventful for both teams and the game ended, resulting in a statement win by Laurel, and a tough loss for the Ponies.

The Havre offense ended the night with 47 plays for 22 yards. The Blue Pony defense totaled 21 tackles, 36 assists and one tackle-for-loss. It was not Havre's night, but the team put forward as much effort as they could throughout the whole game.

Even with the win, Laurel also had its fair share of struggles. Penalties held the Laurel team back at certain points in the game and the special teams missed some tackles to give Havre some good field position. The Locomotives also found difficulties with third and fourth-down conversions.

Laurel head coach Mike Ludwig knew his team had some downs throughout the game.

"I thought we played pretty well at times," Ludwig said. "We still made a lot of mistakes. They (Havre) got some big guys and we didn't tackle very well. Havre's got a big football team with some big players and we kind of didn't match up real well against them sometimes."

The Ponies' heads were low after the game, but the team knows there's no point in being down when they have another game to play.

"We're going to continue to work at getting better," Gatch said. "As a staff and as a head coach I have to work on developing our players so we can get better. That's the reality of it. At the end of the day, it's on me. I gotta get it fixed."

The Blue Ponies are getting ready for this week's game against the Miles City Cowboys, who are currently undefeated in the Eastern A. Havre High kicks off against Miles City Friday at 6 p.m. in Miles City.

Laurel 43, Blue Ponies 7

LHS – Eli Aby 9 pass to receiver (PAT no good)

LHS – Aby quarterback sneak (PAT good)

LHS – 9-yd touchdown run (PAT no good)

HAV – Trenton Maloughney 26 pass to Kellen Detrick (PAT good)

LHS – Aby 4 pass to Keagan Campbell (PAT good)

LHS – Safety

LHS – Aby 17 touchdown pass (PAT good)

LHS – James Ochs 9 run (PAT no good)

Havre Individual Stats

Passing – Trenton Maloughney 2-7 for 26, Reese Bulkley 1-6 for -3

Rushing – Mason Dionne 11-10, Reese Bulkley 5-(-11)

Receiving – Kellen Detrick 3-23