Hot start leads the Blue Ponies to victory over Glendive

On Friday night at Blue Pony Stadium, the Havre High football team hosted the Glendive Red Devils at home for a game. Looking to win their second straight game and their first home game of the season, the Blue Ponies got off to a hot start as they jumped out to a 26-0 lead. The Red Devils settled down, but the Ponies held on to win the game 26-12.

"These kids are fighters," HHS head coach Jake Eldridge said about his players. "They don't quit, they come out and they play hard for 48 minutes so I couldn't be more proud of them."

The Ponies took momentum quickly with the first drive of the game. Quarterback Kale Van Campen got the offense started with a couple of runs for yardage. After an 11-yard run from Jacob Herring, Van Campen completed a pass to Colter Solomon to get the Ponies down to the seven-yard line.

Two plays later on second and goal at the seven, Van Campen found Tate Nelson on a swing route who took the catch all the way to the end zone for the touchdown. The Ponies then made the extra point to make it 7-0 less than four minutes into the game. With a score on their first drive of the game, Eldridge believed it was a sign of things to come.

"I think it's big. It lets you ease into it and feel confident that the game plan is what we thought it would be," Eldridge said. "I think it just gives you the ability to settle in and just play and execute from there."

On their first drive, the Red Devils picked up a first down but had to punt around midfield. The Havre offense picked up right where it left off with a couple runs and another pass completion to make it first down at the Glendive 23-yard line.

The Ponies fumbled the ball but were able to recover it. However, that put them behind the chains and were only able to make it fourth and nine at the 23-yard line. The Ponies decided to go for it, which resulted in Van Campen finding Hunter Sawdey open down the middle for the touchdown. The Ponies missed the extra point but had a 13-0 lead late in the first quarter.

The Devils struggled to find a rhythm on offense. After picking up a first down at midfield, quarterback Chase Crockett's pass down the right sideline was intercepted by Solomon.

With the ball back, the Ponies got right back to work. The running game continued to move the ball and some defensive penalties helped the Ponies get down to the Glendive seven-yard line. On second down, Van Campen scrambled around and found Tre Gary short who took the ball in for the touchdown.

With the score, the Ponies pushed their lead to 20-0 halfway through the second quarter. While Van Campen had a strong game through the air, he made sure to credit the rest of the offensive unit.

"Our offensive line blocked tremendously. They get better each week. They come in and put in the work," Van Campen said. "Our receivers are starting to figure it out, the receivers have been working hard running the routes, getting the blind spots and then all I got to do is throw the ball."

Down by 20, the Devils finally put a drive together as they got into Havre territory. But the Devils were unable to pick up a first down and decided to go for it on fourth and six at the 33-yard line. Crockett tried to throw a short pass to one of his receivers, but Herring undercut the route to intercept the ball and return it deep into Glendive territory.

On the first play of the drive, Van Campen completed a 22-yard pass to Herring to make it first and goal at the eight-yard line. Two plays later, Van Campen found Herring in the middle of the end zone for a two-yard touchdown to make it four touchdown throws for the Havre quarterback. The Ponies missed the extra point, but they had a 26-0 lead late in the first half.

With little time in the half, the Devils looked to find some momentum. On the first play of their next drive, Crockett completed a pass to Kohbe Smith who took the ball into Havre territory. After another pass completion, Crockett found Smith deep down the left sideline for a 34-yard score. The Devils failed to convert on the two-point attempt, but they cut Havre's lead to 26-6 heading to halftime.

The Devils carried their momentum into the opening drive of the second half. On a fourth and two at midfield, a penalty on the Ponies gave Glendive a first down. Later on a third and 14, Crockett completed a 20-yard pass to Austin Berry down to the 20-yard line. Crockett then ran the ball on two straight plays, including a 13-yard run into the end zone for the score. The Devils again failed to convert on a two-point attempt but Havre's lead was now 26-12.

"They were just running the ball really well and the quarterback made some plays with his feet and he broke some tackles," Eldridge said about Glendive during those two drives. "They did a really good job of mixing up their calls and they put us on our heels a little bit."

When the Ponies got the ball back, their offense slowed down. They were able to make it into Glendive territory, but on fourth and three, Nelson's run fell short of the line to gain. With a chance to cut the deficit to one score, the Devils put together another drive.

On a third and seven, Crockett connected with Smith for a first down. Later on a fourth and eight in Havre territory, Crockett scrambled for a first down to extend the drive. The Devils moved the ball with some runs but they found themselves in another fourth-down situation.

On fourth and four at the 14-yard line, Crockett scrambled around and threw a pass into the hands of Jake Williams in the end zone. However, Williams dropped the ball and possession went back to the Ponies.

Over the rest of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter, both teams had to punt the ball away. The Devils had a drive that reached the Havre 41-yard line. However, several penalties pushed them back into their own territory and they had to punt it away.

After another Havre punt, the Devils had one last drive to keep their hopes alive. An unsportsmanlike penalty on the Ponies got the drive started and the Devils converted a fourth down with a pass from Crockett to Teagan Wahl. But at the Havre 25-yard line, Crockett's pass down the field was intercepted by Jason Wold.

It was a strong way to end the game for the Havre defense. While they gave up some plays and yards, especially in the second half, they were able to make plays when it mattered the most.

"We just kept believing in each other," Van Campen said about the timely defense. "We never broke."

The Ponies ran out the clock to end the game and secure the win. They improved to 4-2 on the season, but it was their first at home this fall, so it was nice to get that monkey off their back.

"It feels great but we expect a lot more wins at home in the next couple of weeks," Van Campen said. "First one is good to get out of the way so we'll come back to work next week and expect another one."

It was also the second straight win for the Ponies after a 26-0 win over Miles City on the road the previous weekend. While the Ponies have found their stride over the past two weeks, Eldridge believes there is plenty to work on over the last three weeks of the season.

"A lot to improve on," Eldridge said. "There's a lot of football season left and we don't need to be our best right now. We just need to continue to improve and come to work on Monday with the right mindset to improve and this team has done that so far every week this season."

The HHS football team will next play in their homecoming game against Lockwood at Blue Pony Stadium this next Friday night.