Pony Extra: HHS offense proved plenty

The Havre Blue Ponies, with two-time Class A All-State quarterback Dane Warp at the controls, are a big-play, quick-strike offense. There’s no arguing that.

Warp is a classic gunslinger type QB, in the mold of a Peyton Manning or Brett Favre, and Havre takes advantage of his premier skill set any chance it gets.

The Ponies also have a slew of talented and speedy wide-outs at Warp’s disposal, including five in its sensational sophomore class, in Parker Filius, Isaac Warp, Jacob Labrie, Nate Korb and Michael Loftus.

But, as much as the Ponies love to hoist the ball down the field and demoralize opposing defenses with big pass plays, they also know, especially late in the season, they need to be able to run the football.

And Havre did just that, when it needed to most.

In Friday night’s 39-21 win over the Northwest A Polson Pirates, a team that has always believed in running the football, HHS gave the Pirates a dose of their own medicine. The Ponies rushed for 308 yards, and chewed up huge chunks of the Blue Pony Stadium turf in doing so. The result was a dominating performance, and one that might just give the team HHS will likely face in the first round of the Class A playoffs in two weeks, a little something extra to think about.

"We were able to establish a run game tonight," Havre head coach Jason Christenson said. "It starts with the offensive line. They did a great job. All the kids we handed the ball to ran really hard tonight and the o-line played great.”

Havre’s offensive line did play well, opening up holes and running lanes for every Blue Pony who took the ball out of the backfield. And plenty of Ponies got into the act.

Junior running back Kody Pribyl had his biggest game of the season, rushing for 115 yards on just 10 carries. Pribyl had two touchdowns as well, and both seemed to break the spirit of the Pirate defense.

But Pribyl wasn’t alone. Sophomore fullback Jase Stokes picked up 62 yards on just nine carries, while Filius tallied 56 yards on eight totes. Filius, who has been a nightmare matchup for defenses all season long, had several runs off of sweeps that really kept the Polson defense confused all night long.

“Everybody we handed the ball to ran really hard, and ran really well,” Christenson said. “Parker, Jase, Kody Pribyl, all those guys did a great job.”

But as dominant as the Havre High running backs were against Polson, their quarterback had his day, too. Warp beat the Polson defense time and time again with his feet, tallying 73 yards on 15 carries … some were designed, some were improvisation on his part. And all that running set up Havre’s passing attack, and Warp made the Pirates pay all night long.

With the Ponies running right at, right over and around the Pirates, Havre’s passing game was wide open, and Warp was on fire. He completed an outstanding 23-of-28 passes for 200 yards and three scores. It was an efficient and balanced performance, and it’s one that could make Havre very dangerous in the playoffs.

“We ran the ball a lot better, we controlled the ball better than we have in previous games,” Filius said, “And that set up our passing game better. We were just much more efficient tonight and that's a big plus.”

Make no mistake, Havre will continue to be what it is, a big-play team with plenty of passing, and Browning will see that this Friday night when the Ponies host the Indians in the regular season finale at Blue Pony Stadium. But with a win, Havre will be a playoff team, and the Ponies will need to run the ball against whatever vaunted defense the Ponies face out of the tough Eastern A Conference.

And against the Pirates, the Ponies proved to their coach, to themselves, and to the rest of Class A, that they can do just that.

“I feel bad almost, because in Lewistown, we were doing the same thing,” Christenson said. “We were having a lot of success running the football, and then, for whatever reason, I just went away from that a little bit. And that’s on me.

“But tonight, this team proved to me that they can run the football,” he continued. “They proved it to themselves, too. It was great to see us run the ball like we did tonight, and I think if we can continue to be that effective, it just opens up so much for our offense. And what we did tonight, against a pretty good Polson team, give us confidence.”