Blue Ponies kick off fall with blue/white scrimmage

After several days of fall camp, the Havre High football team will compete in its blue/white scrimmage this Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium. In the Blue Ponies' first game-like action of 2023, HHS head coach Jake Eldridge looks forward to finally playing some football this fall.

"We're really excited about it and I know the kids are as well. It's usually a fun event with it being the first time we get to be back in Blue Pony Stadium and hopefully we'll fill the stadium up," Eldridge said. "The kids are excited, I'm excited and I expect it to be a good competitive game and we'll see how far along the kids have come along."

The blue/white scrimmage will see the starters of one unit go against the backups of the other unit. For example, the starting offense will play against the backup defense while the backup offense will try to move the ball against the starting defense. With this mix of players going against one another, Eldridge believes it will demonstrate how ready the Ponies are as a team this fall.

"It's an opportunity for everybody to get a lot of reps and for us to be able to evaluate in a true competitive situation and see how well the kids can execute as a team and as a unit," Eldridge said. "We'll see who gels with who and see what works and where we're at."

The Ponies have many players returning that Eldridge looks forward to evaluating in this weekend's scrimmage. With the departure of quarterback Kale Van Campen, the Ponies have Ciaran Courtnage and Griffin Terry competing for the starting nod under center this fall. This weekend's scrimmage should go a long way in determining who gets the start week one.

Many other returners will get to showcase their skills in this weekend's scrimmage. On defense, Jacob Herring returns to play outside linebacker while Carson Harris and Colter Solomon will once again play in the secondary. The Ponies will also get the chance to evaluate young linemen such as Tommy Lewis and Brandon Healy this weekend.

In the backfield, Brisbin Reiter and Tate Nelson will get some reps in this weekend's scrimmage as they look to get the run game going this fall. Eldridge also looks forward to seeing Logan Kinsella play this weekend, who will play running back and linebacker for the Ponies.

The Ponies will also have several newcomers to the program competing in this weekend's scrimmage. Since they have no prior experience playing high school football, Eldridge looks forward to seeing how they handle game-like situations this weekend.

"Those guys have progressed a lot so we're excited to see what those young freshmen can do," Eldridge said.

Last season, the Ponies went 6-4 and qualified for the playoffs in their first year under Eldridge. As they look to repeat last year's success, Eldridge hopes that the Ponies use this weekend's scrimmage to continue to learn and improve in order to accomplish their goals during the season.

"It's just understanding that this is just another step in the process of what we're trying to get done here this season. It's our first opportunity to play in a real competitive environment as a unit with offense, defense and special teams," Eldridge said. "So we're really just excited to see where we're at and where we need to grow and gel as a team and take that next step as far as it goes in this process."

The HHS football team will compete in the Blue/White scrimmage at Blue Pony Stadium this Saturday at 7 p.m.