Polson offense explodes against the Blue Ponies

On the road Friday night, the Havre High football team ran into the buzzsaw that was Polson. The Pirates were undefeated heading into the game and were winning by an average of 42.8 points per game. Meanwhile, the Blues Ponies were 2-4 and were riding a three-game losing streak.

When Polson and Havre met up Friday, the Pirates continued their strong play by jumping out to an early 35-0 lead over Havre in the first half. The Ponies tried to get back in it in the second half but Polson ultimately won 42-14.

"They got some dynamic players on offense. We had a hard time keeping those guys bottled up, so they're able to jump out on top," HHS head coach Ryan Gatch said about Polson. "We settled down and played ball. We're able to run up and down the field like we thought we were going to be able to do, but we weren't able to punch it in."

Polson jumped on the Ponies thanks to the stellar play of their left-handed junior quarterback Jarrett Wilson. On their first drive of the game, the star quarterback completed all three of his pass attempts. On the third play of the drive, Wilson connected with Xavier Fisher in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown strike for a 7-0 lead less than a minute into the game.

Ciaran Courtnage got the start at quarterback for the Ponies and he led them on a promising opening drive. Havre eventually got to Polson's red zone, but the drive ended with an interception.

The Pirates quickly capitalized on the Pony turnover. At their own 30-yard line, Wilson hit Colton Graham deep down the field who took it all the way for the score to push Polson's lead to 14-0 halfway through the opening quarter.

The Ponies again moved the ball once they got the ball back. However, they failed to score as they turned it over on downs in Polson territory. The Pirates continued to roll on offense with several big passing plays. Wilson capped off Polson's third drive of the day with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Graham for a 21-0 lead.

It did not take long for Polson to get the ball back as the Pirates again intercepted Havre. Against an offensive juggernaut like Polson, Havre's mistakes just gave the Pirates too many opportunities to light up the scoreboard.

"Anytime you have turnovers, that causes some problems for us so that'll be something that we work on correcting and getting cleaned up," Gatch said.

Polson capitalized on the turnover quickly as Wilson threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Fisher on the first play of the drive. Even with the big lead, the Pirates did not relent as they scored again later in the half for a 35-0 lead heading into the half.

On their opening drive of the second half, the Pirates again scored. At the HHS 15-yard line, Wilson connected with Robert Perez for the score and his fifth touchdown pass before his first incompletion of the game.

"He's just good. Great athlete, good left-handed quarterback with great escape routes, good vision of the field," Gatch said about the Polson quarterback.

Despite trailing 42-0, the Ponies kept playing. On a Havre punt, the Pirates muffed the punt and Havre recovered the ball. The Ponies used that turnover to march down the field to the Polson 1-yard line. Orion Thivierge then ran it in for the score to end the third quarter.

On their first drive of the fourth quarter, the Ponies continued to run the ball well. Havre again capped the drive with a Thivierge score as he ran it in from three yards out. On defense, Havre continued to fight as they blocked a Polson field-goal attempt. However, Polson won, 42-14, to remain undefeated.

Despite the loss, Thivierge had a stellar night for the Ponies with two touchdowns and 217 yards on 5.6 yards a carry. He also led the team with three tackles on defense. Courtnage finished the game with 64 passing yards and Kale VanCampen led Havre with 29 receiving yards.

With the loss, Havre falls to 2-5 on the season. The Ponies now only have two games left this season against Livingston and Laurel. While Havre has not won a game over the past few weeks, Gatch admires his team for the fight shown against the likes of Polson and thinks that fight could help them end the season on a positive note.

"Our kids fought for four quarters," Gatch said. "Our kids continued to fight and continued to represent our town, themselves and their families in a really awesome way. Really proud of the guys and we're going to keep going out after it."

HHS football will next play Livingston this Friday at 6 p.m. at Blue Pony Stadium.

Polson 42, Havre 14

HAV - 0 0 7 7 - 14

POL - 14 21 7 0 -42

POL - Fisher 25 pass from Jarrett Wilson (Nelson kick)

POL - Graham 70 pass from Jarrett Wilson (Nelson kick)

POL - Graham 10 pass from Jarrett Wilson (Nelson kick)

POL - Fisher 15 pass from Jarrett Wilson (Nelson kick)

POL - 90 run (Nelson kick)

POL - Perez 15 pass from Jarrett Wilson (Nelson kick)

HAV - Orion Thivierge 1 run (Fahl kick)

HAV - Thivierge 3 run (Fahl kick)

Individual Stats

Passing - Ciaran Courtnage 5-9-64-0-2.

Rushing - Orion Thivierge 39-217, Kale VanCampen 2-5, Trystan Stygles 1 (-4), Crawford Terry 3-23.

Receiving - Kale VanCampen 1-29, Crawford Terry 1-10, Brody Nanini 3-25.