Friday Night Lights: Aiming Higher

There is nothing better than watching two great football teams go at it on a Friday night. And this week at Blue Pony Stadium, football fans will see yet another great battle between two traditional Class A powers in Havre and Sidney.

There is plenty of history that exists between the Ponies and the Eagles. Since the early 2000s, Havre and Sidney have regularly met in non-conference play, and the two teams will do so again tonight at 7 p.m.

Sidney is one of the most successful teams in the history of Class A football in Montana, with a total of nine state championships to its resume. Even though the Eagles have not won the state title since 1993 or played for the state championship since 1998, when they knocked off a Pony team led by Matt Kegel in the semi-finals of the 1998 playoffs, Sidney is still a contender year in and year out, in the always-difficult Eastern A conference, which makes them a marquee matchup each and every season.

"I think that does matter some to the kids," Havre head coach Mark Samson said when asked if his team was looking forward to playing its Eastern A rival. "They are always a good team. The Eastern A is a really tough league. I know the kids are happy to be playing at home and I think it does help to play a good team like Sidney,”

Of course, the Ponies shouldn't need any extra motivation after starting their season 1-2 in the non-conference with losses to Whitefish and Miles City, sandwiched in between a win over Hardin, another Eastern A foe.

Havre, which, just like Sidney, has been a perennial playoff team for decades, has gotten off to a slow start, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Ponies can't make noise in Class A football, especially with the relative weakness of the Central A conference, which has a 1-14 overall record through three weeks of play. Currently, Havre is the only team with a win.

Yet, coach Samson said the Ponies should not be satisfied with just contending for a conference title or a playoff spot. He believes Havre can compete with the best teams in the state, starting with Sidney.

"There are a lot of great teams in Class A football right now," Samson said. "And a lot of them have a lot of kids back. Whitefish had a lot of kids coming back, Sidney has a lot of kids coming back. Unfortunately, we don't have as many kids back, and we are playing some younger kids, but I am not one of those people that is going to step on the field and be happy with a loss and say it's a moral victory. I just don't believe in that kind of thing. Anytime we play a team in Class A, we should be able to compete in that football game and have a chance to win it."

In terms of needing a big win, few could argue that HHS is in desperate need of one and with an old rival in town, one that the Ponies have met in the postseason multiple times in the past two decades, the stage is set for a big victory and playing a high-quality team like the Eagles, could be just what the doctor ordered for the Ponies.

Obviously, losing to the Eagles will not cost the Ponies anything in the Central A conference, but after failing to compete against Class A contenders Whitefish and Miles City which, like Sidney, owns nine Class A state titles, Havre needs to make a statement. With the history between the two teams, few wins on the schedule would mean more than knocking off an old rival on a Friday night at Blue Pony Stadium.

"These kids really need to start aiming higher," Samson said. "We cannot just be happy being a playoff team or being one of the better teams in the Central A. I want to go into the playoffs with a good record and be able to compete against the top teams in Class A. That is my goal and I think that is what we need to aim for."