Ponies eying playoff berth despite loss of games

The Havre High football team always looks forward to its season and the chance to make some noise among Class A.

Football is a sport that the Blue Ponies have always taken to heart. Every game, play and moment makes memories for the young men who put their everything out on the field.

The fall sports season has always had an atmosphere of excitement and fans love to see their team step on the field and go to work.

Havre has a lot of passion for its football program and the hard work the team puts in.

But there are incidents that can happen in a season that affect programs in different ways.

The start of the 2019 football season had an unfortunate scenario play out. The Park High football team had to forfeit its season after one game. The Rangers' had a few different factors cause their varsity to cancel the season.

The low number of juniors and seniors on Park's roster was a major contributor. On top of that, there was no safe way to play with a squad that is made up of underclassmen at a varsity level.

The Rangers' recent seasons have also amounted to a losing-record. If a team does not win often, then no one will want to play for the team. For Park, the mix of an unfortunate amount of losing seasons and low roster numbers have helped bring about the teams' forfeit this season.

But, there is another point to address that many other football programs other than Park have faced, concern of injury.

As many know, football is a physical sport and one with a very real possibility of injury. Sports specialization is another culprit in the case. Players have often quit football to protect their health for winter and spring sports, along with some parents even pulling their boys from the intense contact-driven sport.

When it came to Park's season being canceled, it left many football programs across Class A, including Havre, adjusting their season schedule.

For Havre, the Rangers were going to be its opponent for the homecoming game. Homecoming and senior night are the two biggest games of the year for the Blue Ponies. With Park out of the schedule this year, Havre had to move their homecoming game and include it with the senior night home game against the Lewistown Golden Eagles Oct. 25.

With the game moved, Havre was left with two weeks in a row with no game, since the week before the Ponies were to play the Rangers was their bye-week. Having two straight weeks with no game can be a struggle for a team.

Sure, the teams can practice and prepare for its next game in that span, but not actually playing an official game against another team can leave some holes to be filled. Many times, the aftermath and the mistakes made in an official game can help the team patch up the mistakes that were made.

Havre had hoped to remedy the loss of the Livingston game with a non-conference matchup against Glendive. The Ponies made an agreement with the Glendive Red Devils, who Havre played in its second game of the season, to play a, non-conference game to make up for the gap in the Ponies' schedule. Glendive was another team left one game short due to Livingston's forfeit as well. The game would have had no effect on either team's playoff chances, it would just be added to the record.

But as game day drew closer, Glendive pulled out of the matchup. Havre was left without a game to fill the hole in its schedule. So Havre's chance at a scheduled home game was essentially gone for good at that point.

The 2019 season has been a crazy one for many programs across Class A. A series of unfortunate events led to a team canceling its season, schedules being adjusted and problems to be mended. Some issues were solved, but others could not be.

Despite all the chaos, the Blue Ponies have found how to work things out to make the best of their season. Even with a gap in part of its schedule, Havre sill has two games to go in the regular season.

The Blue Ponies sit at a 3-3 record currently, with wins against Glendive, Park (by forfeit) and Hardin, and losses against Sidney, Miles City and Laurel.

Havre faces two tough opponents for its last two games, the Billings Central Rams (4-1) and the Lewistown Golden Eagles (4-1). The Ponies will play the Rams in a road-game next Friday at 7, then come back home to play Lewistown in Blue Pony Stadium.

Havre is currently ranked in fourth place in the Northeast A conference. The Ponies trail the Miles City Cowboys, who are first in the conference with an undefeated record and Lewistown, who has only one loss this season, as well as Laurel and Billings Central.

A lot of big games will be taking place tonight. Miles City will be hosting Billings Central and Lewistown plays at Laurel. Wins and losses in these games can have an impact on the Blue Ponies' postseason hopes.

Havre High head coach Ryan Gatch knows the situation with the playoffs for his team and is looking to make some noise.

"Win and we are in," said Gatch. "We win against Park and see where the other teams play at. We could be anywhere from number seven to number three. We must finish in the top six to be in postseason play."

Havre has some high hopes to find a win in their wrap-up of the regular season, but it will be a hard-fought couple of games for the Ponies. In the end, if the Ponies put up great wins against Billings Central, Lewistown or both, Havre will have a better chance of earning a spot in the Class A title run.

It will be a strenuous and difficult path to the playoffs for the Ponies. Their first leg of the journey will be against the Billings Central Rams next Friday at 7 p.m. at Herb Klindt Field in Billings.