Blue Pony gridders earn All-State, Eastern A accolades

The Havre High football team had a strong season this past fall after going 6-3 and qualifying for the postseason. Now that the season is over, several Blue Ponies have been named all-state and all-conference in the Eastern A. With two All-State selections and four First Team All-Conference selections, HHS head coach Jake Eldridge believes it demonstrates the work of the Ponies this season.

"I just think it's a testament to the kids and all their hard work," Eldridge said. "It's a team thing, first and foremost, and the individuals got recognzied for doing their part and standing out in the conference."

Kale Van Campen earned All-State honors and First Team All-Conference honors for his season at inside linebacker for the Ponies. Van Campen racked up the stats over the year as he recorded tackles, forced fumbles and an interception. But Eldridge believes Van Campen's biggest strength was putting the rest of the defense in the right position to succeed.

"He was a leader for our defense," Eldridge said. "He gave us the ability to do some different things coverage wise and pressure wise because of his unique abilities and natural ability to play the position."

Jacob Herring was named All-State and First Team All-Conference as an outside linebacker for the Ponies. He was also Honorable Mention All-Conference for his year at tight end. After not being expected to have the season he had, Eldridge believes all the hard work that Herring put in during the offseason paid off.

"He really did it a lot of things for us at that outside linebacker position, which is probably one of the harder positions on our defense to play," Eldridge said. "All around, he just did a lot of really good things and everything that we asked him to so we're super proud of him and are really excited that he's got another year."

The Havre defense was well represented on the First Team All-Conference team. Brisbin Reiter made the team after the year he had on the defensive line. At the beginning of the year, Reiter was at outside linebacker but after shifting to the defensive line, he became an important player on the defense.

"We found a place for him to come in and really be an impact player and he took advantage of his opportunities," Eldridge said. "It was awesome to see him come out and have a great year and he's another kid that's going to be coming back to us next year."

Jason Wold was First Team All-Conference for his season at free safety. Throughout the year, Wold was a reliable tackler for the Ponies while also grabbing interceptions in coverage.

"He was the hammer," Eldridge said. "He was a guy that did a really job of coming downhill making tackles in the open field but he could get into the box and play very physical. So he did a lot for our defense and really was a great player on the back end for us."

The Havre defense was further represented on the Second Team All-Conference team. For their seasons, Pierce Caplette at defensive lineman and Colter Solomon at cornerback made the team. Crawford Terry earned second team honors at inside linebacker, but Eldridge believes his work on the defense did not demonstrate how impactful he was for the Ponies.

"He did a lot of unselfish things for us to be the defense we were," Eldridge said. "Crawford Terry really was the leader on our defense all the way around."

The Ponies also had some players on the Second Team All-Conference offense. Tate Nelson made the team at running back, while Tre Gary earned the honor at wide recever. On the Honorable Mention All-Conference defense was defensive lineman Jericho Bracelet.

With their first year under Eldridge behind them, the Ponies will look to build on it and compete again next season. Thankfully for them, they will see the return of players like Herring, Reiter, Caplette, Solomon, Nelson and Gary, so they should be set up for success in the future.

Eastern A

First-Team All-Conference Offense

Gage Norslien, QB, LEW, Xander Dean, QB, SID; Clay Oven, RB, BC, Kade Boyd, RB, BC; Maxx Ray, WR, LEW, Royce Robinson, WR, LEW, Riley Cline, WR, LEW, Dylan Byrd, WR, LEW; Mathew Golik, TE, LEW, Hunter Doyle, TE, BC; Christian Wolfe, C, LEW, Seth Benge, C, BC; Riley Phipps, GLE, G, Travis McAlpine, G, LEW, Holden Meged, T, MC; Levi Eaton, T, GLE, Maddox Roberts, T, BC, Jordan Jenson, T, LEW, Alex Donnelly, MC, T; Owen Adams, K, LAU.

First-Team All-Conference Defense

Seth Benge, DL, BC, Travis McAlpine, DL, LEW, Jordan Jensen, DL, LEW, Logan Hughs, DL, BC; Mathew Golik, DE, Camden Johnson, DE, LAU, Maddox Roberts, DL, BC, Brisbin Reiter, DL, HAV; Jett Boyce, ILB, LEW, Kale Van Campen, ILB, HAV, Xavier Brackenridge, ILB, BC, Aden Winder, ILB, LAU, Kieran Netburn, ILB, LEW; Clay Oven, OLB, BC, Jack Debourg, OLB, BC, Wyatt Elam, OLB, LEW, Tyce Casterline, OLB, LW, Jacob Herring, OLB, HAV; Gage Norslien, CB, LEW, Zander Dean, CB, SID, Austin Berry, CB, GLE, Preston Hubley, CB, BC, Maxx Ray, CB, LEW, Sean Mehling, CB, HAR; Greysen Arndt, FS, LEW, Travis Hadley, FS, BC, Riley Cline, FS, MC, Jason Wold, FS, HAV; Kade Boyd, SS, BC, Brody Jenness, SS, LEW, Miles Wells, SS, HAR; Zander Dean, RS, SID, Jackson Whicker, RS, MC.

Second-Team All-Conference Offense

Gus Robertus, QB, LAU; Camden Johnson, RB, LAU, Tate Nelson, RB, HAV, Kieran Netburn, RB, LEW, Andy Bundy, RB, MC; Tre Gary, WR, HAV, Miles Wells, WR, HAR, Kohbe Smith, WR, GLE; Teagan Wahl, TE, GLE; Michael Marley, C, GLE, Trey Hull, C, LAU; Alex Walter, G, BC, Cole Austin, G, LAU; Cody Dennis, T, LAU, Corbin Holler, T, SID, Holter Reisinger, T, LW, Jackson Ritchies, T, BC; Kieran Netburn, K, LEW.

Second-Team All-Conference Defense

Nathan Arthur, DL, LW, Pierce Caplette, DL, HAV; Michael Marley, DE, GLE, Carsen Nelson, DE, LEW, Andy Bundy, DE, MC; Espyn Hostetler, ILB, GLE, Crawford Terry, ILB, HAV, Holden Meged, ILB, MC, Micah Reeves, ILB, LW; Ashton Ulschak, ILB, LAU; Alex Donnelly, OLB, MC, Kevin Huntzbiler, OLB, SID; Chase Burrows, CB, LAU, Jackson Wheeler, CB, MC, Dylan Byrd, CB, LW, Colter Solomon, CB, HAV; Chase Crockett, FS, GLE; Logan Vocu, SS, LW, Ethan Erickson, SS, SID.

Honorable Mention All-Conference Offense

Jaren Knows His Gun, QB, LW; Kayden Wise, WR, SID; Jacob Herring, TE, HAV, Tace Dahlberg, TE, BC; Jackson Miller, C, MC, Cooper McNalley, C, SID; Wyatt Elam, G, LEW; Treyjan Sparks, T, LEW.

Honorable Mention All-Conference Defense

Chase Waters, DL, SID, Jericho Bracelet, DL, HAV; Tronson Monroy, DE, HAR, Corbon Hollar, DE, SID, Layke Leischner, DE, LAU; Jaden Silha, ILB, GLE, Jackson Baker, ILB, LAU; Keagan Smith, OLB, GLE; Wesley Tschacher, FS, LAU, Austin Bonebright, FS, LW, Kellen McClintock, FS, BC.

All-State

Xavier Brackenridge, LB, BC, Kade Boyd, RB, BC, Clay Oven, LB, BC, Maddox Roberts, OT, BC, Travis Hadley, BC, FS; Jett Boyce, RB, LEW, Gage Norslien, QB, LEW, Kieran Netburn, LB, LEW, Matthew Golik, DE, LEW, Brody Jenness, SS, LEW, Travis McAlpine, DT, LEW, Jordan Jensen, DT, LEW, Maxx Ray, WR, LEW, Royce Robinson, WR, LEW; Kale Van Campen, LB, HAV, Jacob Herring, OLB, HAV; Dylan Byrd, WR, LW, Tyce Casterline, LB, LW; Sean Mehling, CB, HAR; Austin Berry, CB, GLE; Alex Donnelly, OT, MC, Holden Meged, OG, MC; Owen Adams, K, LAU, Camden Johnson, DE, LAU, Aden Winder, LB, LAU; Zander Dean, CB, SID; Preston Hubley, CB, BC, Seth Benge, DT, BC.