Blue Ponies beat Broncs, move on to semifinals

The Havre High football team seems to have a flare for the dramatic. And that was on full display in the Class A quarterfinals last Saturday in Frenchtown.

Taking on the Frenchtown Broncs, undefeated and champions of the Western A, the Ponies erased a 23-13 deficit and wound up crushing the Broncs in the second half for a 47-30 win, earning Havre High a trip to the state semifinals.

Pony quarterback Griffin Terry started off the game finding running back Tate Nelson for a 15-yard touchdown halfway through the first quarter. The Broncs rebounced with a touchdown to start the second quarter and converted a two-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead. The ensuing possession saw Nelson score on the ground and Havre regained the lead. 

The Broncs rebonded again and were still leading by 10 points early in the third quarter after scoring a touchdown and a two-point conversion to close out the half and another score to start the second half. From there Terry rushed in for a touchdown to make it 23-19 at the end of the three quarters.

Things were wild putting Havre ahead 26-23.. The ensuing kickoff was squibbed and deflected off a Frenchtown player with the Ponies recovering deep in Bronc's territory. They capitalized off the miscue as Terry hit Chris Bell for a 5-yard touchdown and Havre would open up a 10-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter.

Frenchtown's returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, and it was a three-point game again. But Nelson would not be denied as during the next possession, he secured his third TD on the afternoon, this one from 21 yards out to make the score 40-30. After the Pony defense got a stop, Terry rushed for his second touchdown of the game to put Havre up by 17 points and senior Tre Gary sealed the huge win on the next drive with an interception and the Ponies handed the Brons their first loss of the season.

"We just believed," Nelson, who rushed for a HHS playoff best 244 yards, told 406 MT Sports. "It's a four-quarter game and you can't give up just because you're down."

The Ponies are certainly not down now. They will travel to Laurel, which they beat during the regular season, for a spot in the state championship game, somewhere HHS hasn't been since the Ponies won the 2004 chipper.

"We just kept chopping away," Havre head coach Jake Eldridge said to 406 MT Sports. "We are a pretty battle-tested team. We've been down a lot and the kids have always come back.

"They believe in each other. Kudos to them. This group of kids has done nothing but work hard and they're big-time competitors."

Havre and Laurel will play this Saturday in Laurel. The Locomotives outlasted Columbia Falls for a spot in Saturday's semi. On the other side of the bracket, Billings Central and Lewidstown will play in the other semifinal.