Blue Ponies fall to Whitefish in defensive slugfest

Postseason football arrived on the Hi-Line Saturday when the Havre High football team hosted Whitefish for a playoff game at Blue Pony Stadium. Excitement was in the air Saturday afternoon, but that, unfortunately, did not lead to a win for the Blue Ponies as their season came to end with a 17-7 loss. While the season came to a disappointing end, HHS head coach Jake Eldridge was proud of his players' effort.

"I'm just proud of our guys and I'm proud of our team," Eldridge said. "They gave us everything that they had today. It just wasn't our day. Credit to Whitefish, they're a good football team and they got the upper hand on us."

In their final game of the season, the Ponies recorded 134 total yards of offense. Throughout the course of the day, the Ponies went 0-for-10 on third down and committed two turnovers. Quarterback Kale Van Campen went 5-for-18 for 78 yards and a touchdown through the air. Tate Nelson led the team with 49 rushing yards on 19 carries while Crawford Terry had a catch for 28 yards in the game.

The Ponies offensive struggles started early as they got the ball to start the game and went three and out. On their opening possession, the Bulldogs got a couple of first downs but eventually punted themselves. Over the next few minutes, the Ponies and Bulldogs exchanged three and outs.

After the Whitefish punt, the Ponies had great starting field position at their own 45-yard line. Van Campen completed a pass to Carson Harris and then ran it himself for some yards. But on third and one, Van Campen's pass went incomplete. Since they were at the Whitefish 47-yard line, the Ponies decided to go for it. Before they could run the play, a false start backed them up and forced them to punt.

On their first play of the drive, the Bulldogs fumbled the ball and Jacob Herring recovered it for the Ponies at the Whitefish 34-yard line. But the Ponies could not overcome a holding penalty as they punted the ball away again.

Early in the second quarter, the Bulldogs got their offense going. Quarterback Fynn Ridgeway got it started with a couple of runs for first downs. Then on a third and 10, he connected with Mason Kelch for a conversion down to the Havre 48-yard line. Ridgeway then completed a pass to Dane Hunt for a first down at the Havre 33-yard line.

But the drive came to an end when Havre defensive back Colter Solomon jumped a route to intercept a throw from Ridgeway. Despite the huge takeaway, the Havre offense went three and out and punted the ball away. The Ponies had trouble moving the ball throughout the day, which Eldridge took accountability for.

"I don't think we did a good enough job to get them prepared," Eldridge said. "They were working and trying to do everything that we asked them to do. It starts with me. We didn't put them in a good enough position."

The Bulldogs started their next drive in Havre territory and quickly got to work. On a third and 11, Ridgeway scrambled all the way to the Havre 34-yard line for a first down. After another quarterback run, Ridgeway connected with Hunt for a first down reception.

Two plays later on a second and 15, Ridgeway completed a pass to Kelch down to the Havre 10-yard line. On the next play, Ridgeway found Kelch again, who took the short pass into the endzone for the touchdown. The Bulldogs then made the extra point for a 7-0 lead late in the first half.

Looking to respond, the Ponies put together a drive of their own. Van Campen got things started with a completion to Solomon for a first down. Van Campen then completed another pass to Harris for a first down. Along with a facemask penalty, the Ponies got down to the Whitefish 34-yard line.

But the Ponies could not move the ball farther as they had to punt. The Bulldogs turned the ball over again when Solomon got another interception off Ridgeway. With little time to do anything, the Ponies ran out the clock to head into halftime trailing 7-0.

The Bulldogs got the ball to start the second half and got moving again. Ridgeway continued to pick up first downs with his legs and his arm. He helped the Bulldogs move the ball to the Havre 20-yard line, but his pass to the end zone was intercepted by Solomon for the third time in the game.

"He's a heck of a football player. He's very headsy and he knows the game really well," Eldridge said about Solomon. "Really happy for him because he works his tail off every day and does everything that we ask him to do. It's great to be able to see him have some success."

The Ponies could not do anything with the turnover as they punted the ball away. After throwing his third interception of the game, Ridgeway looked to respond. Starting the drive at the Havre 44-yard line, Ridgeway completed a pass to Kelch for a gain. Ridgeway then ran it himself on the next two plays to make it first and goal at the Havre nine-yard line.

After a run from Ty Schwaiger, Ridgeway ran it himself for a five-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 late in the third quarter. While the Ponies made many plays on defense throughout the game, they could not contain Ridgeway forever.

"The quarterback is a dynamic football player and he does a lot of things," Eldridge said. "He's just a good football player so he made plays for them and they ran the ball really well."

Things continued to go down hill for the Ponies as they fumbled and lost the ball on the first play of their next drive. Thankfully for the Ponies, their defense held strong as they held the Bulldogs to a 32-yard field goal. But the Bulldogs still had a 17-0 lead late in the third.

Over the next couple of possessions, the Ponies and Bulldogs exchanged three and outs. With the game now in the fourth quarter, the Ponies got to work once they got the ball back. Starting their drive in Whitefish territory, the Ponies ran the ball on three straight plays to make it fourth and one at the 36-yard line. Nelson then carried the ball to the 33-yard line for a first down.

On the next set of downs, the Ponies faced some more adversity. After a pass completion, a holding penalty made it second and 16. After a run from Nelson, an incompletion from Van Campen made it fourth and eight at the 30-yard line. On the fourth down attempt, the Ponies converted when Van Campen completed a pass to Terry deep down the left sideline.

On first and goal at the three-yard line, Van Campen found Jason Wold for a touchdown. Trayden Riley then connected on the extra point to make it 17-7 halfway through the first quarter. After struggling on offense through most of the game, Eldridge believes the Ponies began to execute in the fourth quarter.

"We blocked a little better, found some open receivers and ran the ball a little better," Eldridge said. "We just did everything that we're trying to do just a little bit better and positive things happened for us."

After forcing a Whitefish punt, the Ponies looked to put together another drive as they started around midfield. But an incompletion and a sack put the Ponies behind the chains. A false start put the Ponies in a third and 22. Two straight incompletions by Van Campen ended the drive and gave the ball back to the Bulldogs.

Whitefish ran the ball to milk the clock. When the Ponies got the ball back, there were just seconds left on the clock. The Ponies threw the ball three straight times to end the game.

The Whitefish Bulldogs will advance in the postseason as they will next play Hamilton this Saturday. On their end, the Ponies' season comes to an end with the loss. They went 6-3 in the regular season to qualify for the postseason after missing it last season. With his first year leading the program now in the books, Eldridge expressed gratitude for his players for helping him turn things around this year.

"I couldn't be more proud of them for everything that they've given to us in the program. They've put this program in a position to continue to get better," Eldridge said. "Nobody really gave them much of a shot at the beginning of the year and they changed a lot of minds. These kids, they came in every day, they worked really hard and they did everything that we asked."

Whitefish 17, Havre 7

HAV - 0 0 0 7 - 7

WHI - 0 7 10 0 -17

WHI - Mason Kelch 10 pass from Fynn Ridgeway (Ryder Barinowski kick)

WHI - Ridgeway 5 run (Barinowski kick)

WHI - Barinowski 32 FG

HAV - Jason Wold 3 pass from Kale Van Campen (Trayden Riley kick)

Havre Individual Stats

Passing - Kale Van Campen 5-18-78-1-0.

Rushing - Tate Nelson 19-49, Kale Van Campen 8-7, Crawford Terry 1-0.

Receiving - Crawford Terry 1-28, Carson Harris 1-24, Colter Solomon 1-14, Tre Gary 1-9, Jason Wold 1-3.

Defense - Jacob Herring 7.5 total tackles, Crawford Terry 7.5 total tackles, Brisbin Reiter 7.0 total tackles, Colter Solomon 4.5 total tackles.