Havre football shut down by Billings Central Rams

On Friday night at Blue Pony Stadium, the Havre High football team hosted a tough Billings Central squad. The Rams came into the contest undefeated with double-digit wins in every game this year. Even though they had home field advantage, the Blue Ponies could not slow down the Rams as Billings Central defeated Havre 35-0.

"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 dominated the Ponies on both sides of the ball throughout the evening. The Rams finished the game with 337 yards on offense, including 187 rushing yards. Meanwhile, the Ponies could not get going as they finished the night with 70 yards of offense.

Starting quarterback Kale Van Campen only completed two of his three pass attempts for 23 yards before leaving the game with an injury. After coming into the game, quarterback Ciaran Courtnage went 3-for-10 for 17 yards. The leading rusher for Havre was Brisbin Reiter with 24 yards on 12 carries. In the passing game, Jacob Herring led all receivers with three catches for 33 yards.

Early on in the contest, it looked like the Ponies might be able to contain the Rams. After the Rams drove down the field on their opening drive, the Havre defense stiffened up and made it fourth and nine at the Havre 35-yard line. Quarterback Adam Balkenbush found Kade 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. Van Campen connected with 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.

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 93-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 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 Oven 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.

Billings Central 35, Havre 0

BC - 7 14 7 7 - 35

HAV - 0 0 0 0 - 0

BC - Kade Boyd 93 pass from Adam Balkenbush (kick)

BC - Boyd 13 yd run (kick)

BC - Boyd 4 yd run (kick)

BC - Boyd 3 yd run (kick)

BC - Jack DeBourg 36 pass from Thomas Norman (kick)

Havre Individual Stats

Passing - Kale Van Campen 2-3-23, Ciaran Courtnage 3-10-17.

Rushing - Brisbin Reiter 12-24, Kale Van Campen 5-10, Jacob Herring 2-5, Crawford Terry 1-2.

Receiving - Jacob Herring 3-33, Colter Solomon 1-4, Carson Harris 1-3.

Defense - Jason Wold 8 tackles, Crawford Terry 7.5 tackles, Brisbin Reiter 5.