Blue Ponies head west to face talented Pirates

The Havre High football team has had a rough ride over the last few weeks with three straight losses. Unfortunately, things will not get much easier for the Blue Ponies when they head on the road to face undefeated Polson tonight.

Even though his team is facing maybe its toughest opponent yet this fall, HHS head coach Ryan Gatch expects the Ponies to play hard.

"Go out and go play a great game. Go play Blue Pony football," Gatch said were his expectations for his team tonight. "Getting after it from the start of the game from kickoff to the final whistle in the fourth quarter so it should be a lot of fun playing a pretty good team."

Havre is 2-4 with a 1-3 record in the Northeast A. On the other hand, Polson is 6-0 and first in the Northwest A. The Pirates are led by star junior quarterback Jarrett Wilson whose passing had led Polson to success this season. With the help of wide receivers Colton Graham and Xavier Fisher, the Polson offense has averaged 52 points a game this season.

"They got some big-time wide receivers, a good quarterback and a good offensive line," Gatch said. "There's a reason why they're 6-0 right now."

The Polson defense is no slouch either as it has only allowed 13.8 points a game this year. The Pirates have also recorded shutouts in two of their games, including their 37-0 win over Columbia Falls last week. Notable defensive players that Havre needs to watch out for includes defensive linemen Braunson Henriksen and linebacker Trent Wilson.

"They're fast and physical," Gatch said about the Polson defense. "They just get after it on the defensive line, that linebacking core is solid and their secondary is really good as well."

The Havre offense will need to be at the top of its games if it wants to move the ball on Polson tonight. Through their first five games of the season, the HHS offense had averaged 10.2 points per game. But last week in their loss to Glendive, the Ponies scored 37 points.

In that game, the Ponies threw for a season-high 216 passing yards thanks to backup quarterback Ciaran Courtnage. While he would like to get the passing game going again, Gatch will just try to attack the Polson defense with what he believes will work best.

"Gameplan-wise, we'll go out there and we'll try to match our strengths with their strengths and go toe to toe with them," Gatch said.

While they will be facing an undefeated opponent who is playing for playoff position, Gatch feels confident that the Ponies can play hard and give the Pirates some trouble.

"We got a great football team. That is a hard-working group of players that won't back down from anybody," Gatch said. "It'll be a fun challenge this weekend just to see the competitiveness and the challenge that we put up for this Polson football team."

HHS football will play on the road against Polson tonight at 6 p.m. Havre then returns home for its final game at Blue Pony Stadium against Park next Friday.