Blue Ponies fall on road to Billings Central

Over the years, Billings Central has had the number of the Havre High football team. And that did not change this past Friday night in Billings. On the road at Herb Klindt Field, the Blue Ponies suffered a 24-3 loss to the Rams.

The Ponies did show promise on their opening drive of the night. Starting quarterback Ciaran Courtnage converted a pair of third and longs with completions to Carson Harris and Colter Solomon. But on fourth and one at the Rams' 39-yard line, the Ponies failed to convert. 

The Ponies forced a punt and put together another solid drive. On a keeper, Courtnage carried the rock for a 52-yard run down to the Rams' six-yard line. The Ponies had to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Ty Golie, but they now had a 3-0 lead.

But after some slow goings on offense to start the game, the Rams finally got going. Thanks to a couple of strong runs and a facemask penalty on the Ponies, the Rams found themselves on the Havre 16-yard line. Then on the first play of the second quarter, quarterback Adam Balkenbush connected with Brayden Flores for the touchdown and the 7-3 lead.

When the Rams got the ball back, they stayed hot. Balkenbush continued to run the ball well as he made it a goal to go situation for the Rams. The Havre defense stood tall to make it fourth and goal at the one-yard line. But on the fourth-down attempt, Balkenbush ran it in for the score to extend the Rams' lead to 14-3 halfway through the second.

The Ponies could not respond as they had to punt the ball away again. When the Rams got the ball back, they continued to use the ground game to march down the field. Balkenbush also completed several passes to help the Rams get down the field. But with the clock running out in the half, the Rams had to settle for the field goal and the 17-3 lead heading into halftime.

The Rams had another strong drive to start the second half to get all the way to the Havre ten-yard line. But the Rams fumbled and lost the ball to the Ponies. Unfortunately for the Ponies, they could do nothing with the turnover and had to punt it away again.

On the Rams' next drive, Thomas Norman led the way with several runs and a few pass completions to move the offense down the field. After getting down to the Havre four-yard line, Norman's name was called again as he carried the rock in for another score to push the lead to 24-3.

With their hopes slipping away in the fourth quarter, the Ponies tried to put together one more drive. Courtnage had a strong showing on the possession with several completions and keepers to get Havre to the Rams' 17-yard line. But on fourth down, Courtnage's pass fell incomplete and the Rams got the ball back to run out the clock.

With their loss, the Ponies dropped to 1-1 early in the season. The HHS football team will look to get back in the win column when it faces Miles City this Friday at 7 p.m. at Blue Pony Stadium. 

Billings Central 24, Havre 3

HAV 3 0 0 0 - 3

BC 0 17 7 0 - 24

HAV - Golie 27 field goal

BC - Flores 16 pass from Balkenbush (Debour kick)

BC - Balkenbush 1 run (Debourg kick)

BC - Debourg field goal

BC - Norman 4 run (Debourg kick)