Havre football shuts out Hardin on the road

Regardless of the opponent, a long road trip is a tough task for any athlete. This past Friday night, the Havre High football team traveled to Hardin in hopes of a win to improve to 2-1. Well, the Blue Ponies made it look easy as they won, 35-0, against the Bulldogs.

“I think we played pretty good in all three phases of the game,” HHS head coach Jake Eldridge said. “I think all the way around, I think we did a pretty good job.”

After only scoring seven points in their loss to Lewistown last week, Eldridge liked how the HHS offense played against Hardin. Against the Bulldogs, the Ponies gained 221 total yards, including 97 rushing yards. The offense also did not turn over the ball at once.

“Offensively, I think we kind of got ourselves on track a little bit. We were able to run the ball and do some good things in the passing game,” Eldridge said. “I thought (Kale Van Campen) did a pretty good job of going through his reads and working where the open receiver was going to be.”

At quarterback for the Ponies, Van Campen completed six of his 13 pass attempts for 121 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, Brisbin Reiter led the Ponies with 58 rushing yards on 10 carries.

The Ponies also played good defense from the first snap. The Bulldogs got the ball first and quickly went three and out. Instead of punting, they decided to go for it on fourth and long in their own territory. An incomplete pass turned possession over to the Ponies, but they could do little with it as they had to punt the ball away.

With the ball back, the Bulldogs were again aggressive. After failing to pick up a first down on their first three attempts, the Bulldogs went for it on fourth and failed to convert. The Ponies started their drive at the Hardin ten-yard line. Two plays later at the one-yard line, Crawford Terry ran the ball in for the touchdown to give Havre a 7-0 lead.

“When we get the opportunity to make those stops on defense on fourth down, we consider it just like a turnover so I think it’s huge,” Eldridge said. “It gives us momentum and sometimes it’ll give us a short field.”

When they got the ball back, the Bulldogs finally put a drive together. The Bulldogs used their run game to get themselves in Havre territory. But the offense stalled and on fourth down, Van Campen intercepted a pass and returned it 64 yards all the way for a touchdown.

The Bulldogs could not keep up the offensive momentum as they failed to pick up a first down on the next drive. On fourth down in their own territory, they failed to convert and gave the ball to the Ponies. Three plays later at the 28-yard line, Van Campen connected with Hunter Sawdey for a touchdown to give Havre a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, it looked like the Bulldogs gained some momentum with a touchdown on the kickoff return. However, a penalty wiped out the score for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs gained a first down on the drive but were later forced to fourth down. This time, the Bulldogs punted the ball to the Ponies.

Despite starting in their own territory, the Ponies put together a strong drive down the field. Even with a third and long, the Ponies used a screen pass to convert and keep the drive going. After making it first and goal at the Hardin three-yard line, Van Campen connected with Trayden Riley for a touchdown to make it 28-0.

The Bulldogs tried to make it interesting with a drive late in the first half. They were able to push the ball down the field, but the offense again stalled in Havre territory. They once again failed to convert on fourth down. The Ponies then ran out the clock to end the half.

The Bulldogs tried to grab momentum with an onside kick to open the second half. But the Ponies were prepared as they recovered the ball at midfield.

The Ponies could do little with the ball as they turned the ball over on fourth down in Hardin territory. But the Bulldogs could not hold onto the ball as they fumbled it and Terry recovered and returned it 22 yards for another score for the Ponies.

Over the next quarter and a half, the Ponies ran the ball to run out the clock while the Bulldogs failed to get much traction on offense. Even with that goose egg on the scoreboard, the Bulldogs were unable to put a scoring drive together before time ran out.

It was a strong win for the Ponies, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. For example, Eldridge believes some penalties hurt them on offense, so eliminating those going forward will be a focus.

“We need to be sharp a little bit more on the offensive side of the ball,” Eldridge said. “We got to cut out the mental mistakes and we can’t be hurting ourselves and shooting ourselves in the foot by putting ourselves behind the chains.”

But the Ponies get themselves on the right side of .500 with the win. The Ponies have tougher competition with teams like Billings Central coming up, so a win like this can give the Poneis a boost going forward.

“It’s always great to be able to win. It gives you that self-confidence that the things you’re doing are correct,” Eldridge said. “It just gives you that confidence to understand the things that we’re doing so we need to go back to work and continue to do it and then hopefully continue to do the little things the right way.”

The HHS football team will next play at home at Blue Pony Stadium with a game against Billings Central this Friday at 6 p.m.

Havre 35, Hardin 0

HAV - 21 7 7 0 - 35

HAR - 0 0 0 0 - 0

HAV - Crawford Terry 1 run (Trayden Riley kick)

HAV - Kale Van Campen 64 interception return (Riley kick)

HAV - Hunter Sawdey 28 pass from Van Campen (Riley kick)

HAV - Riley 3 pass from Van Campen (Riley kick)

HAV - Terry 22 fumble return (Riley kick)