Rams shut down Blue Ponies in their return to home

In just the second home game of the season, the Havre High football team had to face a tough opponent in Billings Central. The Rams came in the game undefeated with little resistance and were looking to maintain that perfect record against the Blue Ponies. While the Ponies were in the friendly confines of Blue Pony Stadium, the Rams continued to roll with a 35-0 win over Havre on Friday night.

"I thought we played well at times but execution, especially in critical times, has got to be better," HHS head coach Jake Eldridge said. "They gave me everything that they had and we played well at times but not good enough against a really good ballclub."

The Rams started the game with a strong drive into Havre territory. Billings Central running back Kade Boyd got rolling as he had several productive carries on the first drive. But the Havre defense stiffened up and made it fourth and nine at the Havre 35-yard line. Quarterback Adam Balkenbush found Boyd down the middle for a big gain, but Boyd dropped the pass and the Ponies took it over on downs.

On their first drive of the game, the Ponies moved the ball down the field. Quarterback Kale Van Campen connected with Jacob Herring for a 21-yard gain into Rams territory. Van Campen then scrambled for another first down for the Ponies. Later in the drive on fourth down, a defensive pass interference on the Rams made it first down at the 13-yard line.

"(It was) a little bit of our shifts and motions and just trying to keep them off balance," Eldridge said about what worked on offense on the first drive. "We had a little bit of leverage in space that we took advantage of."

But the offense stalled in the red zone. On fourth and five at the eight-yard line, Van Campen's scramble fell short of a first down. With the ball pinned deep in their own territory, the Rams did not start their drive well. After a holding penalty and a couple of short runs, it was third and nine at their own eight-yard line.

But on the next play, Balkenbush kept the play alive in the pocket and he found Boyd wide open down the field. Thanks to his speed as well as downfield blocking, Boyd carried the ball all the way for the 94-yard touchdown. The extra point then gave Billings Central a 7-0 lead with 27.9 seconds left in the opening quarter.

"He just leaked out and got lost in the play," Eldridge said about Boyd. "He was running free. The quarterback broke a tackle, got out of our grasp and saw him and that's what happens sometimes."

After the Ponies went three and out on their next drive, the Rams put together another scoring drive. After the Rams returned the punt to the Havre 25-yard line, the Rams ran the ball at the Ponies to get down to the 13-yard line. On third and nine, Boyd carried the ball in the endzone for the 13-yard score and a 14-0 lead with 7:37 left in the second quarter.

On the previous drive, Van Campen suffered an injury that forced him out of the game and Ciaran Courtnage had to take over at quarterback for the Ponies. While the Ponies did not make too many adjustments to the offense, the loss of the starting quarterback hurt the Ponies.

"We didn't change our game plan but Kale is the leader of the team," Eldridge said. "It's just his emotion and his leadership, you definitely feel that."

After a three and out, the Rams put together a drive to take firm control of the game. After some strong runs by Boyd, Clay Vven had a 28-yard run to get the Rams to the Havre four-yard line. Boyd then carried it in for the score to make it 21-0 with 3:43 left in the half.

"They run the ball really well," Eldridge said about the Billings Central offense. "They've got a couple of really good running backs, their offensive line is physical and they broke tackles and they just moved the ball down the field."

The Ponies went three and out and punted it back to the Rams late in the half. But on the first play of the drive, Balkenbush's pass down the left sideline was intercepted by Tre Gary. Yet, the Ponies did little with it as they punted again. After forcing a Billings Central punt, the Ponies ran out the clock to end the half.

The Ponies punted the ball to open the second half and the Rams got right back to work on offense. The Rams continued to run the ball, including a quarterback sneak on fourth and short to convert. In the red zone, Balkenbush connected with Brayden Flores on a slant for a 21-yard catch and run to the Havre three-yard line. Boyd then ran it in for his fourth touchdown of the game to make it 28-0 with 7:07 left in the third quarter.

Even late in the game, the Ponies continued to struggle on offense. The Rams slowed down on offense after inserting their backups but in the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Thomas Norman found Jack DeBourg for a 36-yard touchdown to make it 35-0. The Ponies and Rams then each got a possession before the final clock ran out.

The Billings Central Rams remain unblemished as they improved to 4-0 on the season. Meanwhile, the Ponies dropped to 2-2 with the loss. The Rams were a tough team, so the few mistakes the Ponies made during the game were critical. As they move forward, Eldridge hopes to correct those mistakes.

"We got to be able to go back and correct some of the mistakes and fix some of our fundamental issues," Eldridge said. "I don't think penalties were a major issue in the game but there were a couple at critical times and it kind of bit us and put us behind the chains which made it tough against a good ballclub."

The HHS football team will look to get back on track next Friday with a road game against Miles City.