Blue Ponies hosts Livingston for senior night

While the past few weeks have been rough with four straight losses, the Havre High football team will have much to celebrate tonight with its senior night. At Blue Pony Stadium, the Blue Ponies will play Livingston in their final home game of the season. As the Ponies play one last time in front of their home fans, HHS head coach Ryan Gatch looks forward to honoring his senior class.

"Excited to celebrate our seniors," Gatch said about the night. "They've given a ton of commitment and perseverance this year and they're excited to showcase themselves in front of the homestand fans."

The Ponies have many seniors that they will honor tonight. Players who have been on the team for years include Trenton Maloughney and Orion Thivierge. First-year players in the program who are seniors include Kendall and Riley Pleninger. Other seniors who will be honored include Jared Rossgard, Justin Rossgard, Randy Tommerup and Riley Long Knife. As their careers come to an end, Gatch believes they made an impact on the program and will carry that on.

"I got a lot of fond memories about a lot of these players that have been in our program," Gatch said. "I expect that they'll continue to do that for the rest of their lives because they're great, outstanding young people within our community."

As the Ponies celebrate their senior night, it would be easy for them to get swept up in the emotions and let it affect their play. However, Gatch believes his team's preparation will help them manage the emotions and play like it was just like any other game.

"Every night in football is an emotional game," Gatch said. "The kids are ready to go and they always are. Whether you win or lose, each time you go step on the field, our Havre Blue Ponies are excited and ready to go."

Havre enters the game with a 2-5 record and are on a four-game losing streak. However, Livingston enters the game with an 0-7 record. The Rangers have already lost to teams such as Sidney and Hardin this season, teams that the Ponies have already defeated. While Livingston only averages 4.9 points per game, Gatch believes their passing game could give the Ponies some trouble.

"They like to pass the ball and we've given up a number of passing yards the last couple weeks," Gatch said. "That was a point of emphasis this week. Cleaning up our coverage concepts and getting our pass rush tightened and be able to hopefully get some pressure on their quarterback."

While he believes that Livingston can pose some problems, Gatch believes that as long as his team executes and believes in themselves, the HHS seniors will make more positive memories in their final home game.

"We got to go in with a positive mindset that we are capable of winning this game," Gatch said. "We need to effectively run the ball, we need to be able to control the ball, have ball security and defensively we got to play better pass defense and better pass rush."

HHS football will have its senior night tonight at 6 p.m. when the Ponies play Livingston at Blue Pony Stadium.