Tough Night: Laurel steams past Havre

The home and season-opener for the Havre High football team kicked off Friday night in Blue Pony Stadium, where the Blue Ponies faced off against the 2019 Class A runner-up, the Laurel Locomotives.

The game was to be a big one for Havre, as it was senior night for the Ponies, as well. But, at the end of it all, the Locomotives came to town and flat balled out.

Laurel spoiled the night for Havre, steamrolling and shutting out the Blue Ponies 42-0 on Havre's home turf. The loss surely is not the start the Ponies wanted for the season, but Laurel kept things moving on both sides of the ball to come away with the win, handing the blue and white a 0-1 record to open the 2020 season.

Havre head coach Ryan Gatch knew just how tough Friday night's game was against the Locomotives.

"The game against Laurel started out with us playing some solid defense," Gatch said. "We gave up a big third down play that hurt us and got us off track a little bit. We were covered pretty good. We were playing pretty solid then stalled out again. In the second quarter, we started getting after them a little bit, but they were able to get some big plays on us again. Those things changed the flow of the game a lot. Laurel is a very good football team. I think they're better this year."

Laurel wasted no time finding the endzone, with Montana State commit Eli Aby completing a deep pass to Jack Waddell to strike first. After Havre stalled on some drives, Waddell added his second touchdown of the night on a 75-yard punt return. Aby would find Emmett Renner for a 41-yard passing touchdown, Waddell for a 52-yard receiving score and Dalton Boehler took advantage of a muffed snap by the Ponies for a scoop-and-score, giving the Locomotives a 35-0 lead over Havre at the half.

The second half was tamer compared to the first, as the Blue Pony defense held Laurel more consistently in the third quarter, but the Locomotives still had some gas left in the tank, with Aby completing an 11-yard pass to Colter Bales to cap it all off and hand the Ponies a shutout at home.

At the end of the night, Havre still had some good showings. Winchell forced and recovered a fumble, sophomore Orion Thivierge put up 15 yards in 29 attempts with his legs and had four catches as a receiver and junior quarterback Trenton Maloughney completed seven passes for 50 yards.

Senior night may have been a rough game, but the seniors always play at a high-energy level with a sprinkle of emotion on top, something that Gatch saw produce on the field.

"Our seniors played well," Gatch said. "It was nice to see Ethan Carlson and Carson Lunak out there mixing it up. Kellen Detrick and Brock Nystrom played well, Bradyn Winchell had that forced fumble and recovery, so the seniors went out and competed real hard. It was different having senior night on the first game of the year. Our players are doing good things for our community."

The opening loss to Laurel surely stings for the Ponies, but it is still early in the season. With that, Havre (0-1) will be prepping for a road-game showdown against the Glendive Red Devils (0-1) at 7 p.m. Friday in Glendive, where the Ponies will aim to grab their first win of the season to build some needed momentum.