Havre High football ready for bounceback season

The return of fall sports in 2021 will be especially sweet this fall. Not only will Havre High football return but so will the atmosphere at Blue Pony Stadium that was gone with limited fans last fall. With a return to a full schedule as well this fall, HHS head coach Ryan Gatch hopes that his team makes the most of it and have fun along the way.

"Expectations are just for our players to go out and compete and have fun. When I think about having fun, it's the camaraderie that those guys have when they go out and compete in the game. It's about being able to count on one another during the game," Gatch said. "We want to keep everybody healthy and everybody have fun and get a lot of reps."

The Blue Ponies will have 10 seniors on their roster this season. Trenton Maloughney will return to start at quarterback for the Ponies this fall. He will have Orion Thivierge to throw to at wide receiver, who was also an all-state player at linebacker for the Ponies last fall. Havre will also have many offensive linemen returning to protect Maloughney such as Justin Rosgard and Randy Tommerup.

Jared Rosgard will play running back and linebacker in his final year for the Ponies. Riley Long Knife hopes to make some plays in his senior season as a wide receiver or defensive back. Brendan Eraux and Derek Olson will also be heading into their final year at Havre as they play on both the offensive and defensive line.

Havre will also have a pair of seniors who will be putting on the pads for their first time this fall. Riley Pleninger will play cornerback and wide receiver for the Ponies and Kendall Pleninger will line up at defensive end and as another receiving threat for Maloughney this fall.

The Ponies will also look to several juniors to make an impact this fall such as Crawford Terry and Kale VanCampen. Juniors Jason Wold and Hunter Sawdey will both play wide receiver and defensive back for the Ponies this fall. Sophomores Carson Harris and Michael Emges hould also get some play time at these positions this year.

While the Ponies are happy to be playing football again, they also do not want a repeat of last season where they went 1-5. While Gatch will obviously be focusing on getting his offense and defense ready for the season, he thinks special teams will be the key.

"Anytime you have to play a football game, if you don't have great field position, it's really hard to score. If you give up great field position, it's easier for the other team to score," Gatch said. "If a team recovers the ball on our 30-yard line, they get their percentage of scoring up to 70 percent. They start on their own 30-yard line, they only have a 30 percent chance of scoring. Those are the critical factors that come into a game."

The Ponies hope to return to their winning ways of 2019 where they made a deep playoff run. If they are going to reach those same levels of success, they will need to survive a tough Eastern A schedule. Throughout the fall, they will look to avenge their losses from last year.

Their first opponent this fall will be Sidney this Friday night at home. Sidney may be one of the Ponies' toughest opponents this fall after they finished fourth in the Eastern A and defeated Havre, 37-14, last fall. The Ponies will then head on the road on Sept. 3 to face Lewistown as they try to avenge a 21-0 loss from last season.

On Sept. 10, Havre will face Hardin at home in a rematch of the Ponies' 26-14 win last season. Havre will then head on the road on Sept. 17 to face a tough opponent in Billings Central who finished first in the Eastern A last fall. Havre will face another playoff team from last season when they host Miles City on Sept. 24.

The Ponies will open the month of October with a road game at Glendive as they try to avenge a 32-14 loss from last fall. The next two weeks, the Ponies will play against Polson and Livingston. Havre will then finish the regular season with a road game against defending state champion Laurel on Oct. 22. If the Ponies are going to survive this gauntlet, they will need to capitalize on their team chemistry.

"Team continuity. We got a lot of kids who get along real good. We got a very diverse group of players out there," Gatch said. "It's really fun to see the continuity that they have amongst one another and how they get along and how they go out and compete together. Really looking forward to watching how that works when we get into competitive game situations."

The HHS football season begins this Friday at 7 p.m. with a game against Sidney at Blue Pony Stadium.