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Rivalry Game: Ponies make Corral Debut

When Havre and Lewistown get together on the football field, it's always an important game. But after each team lost their opener, the showdown tonight inside Blue Pony Stadium, has become even more critical.

The Blue Ponies (0-1), who lost their season opener to Hardin, will host the Eagles (0-1), who fell to Laurel last week, tonight in a critical Eastern A conference showdown, as both teams look to avoid the dreaded 0-2 start. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

"You have to win four to get into the playoffs, so you can pick whichever one you want, but every game is important," HHS head coach Ryan Gatch said. "Obviously, you want to win them all. We talk about being 1-0 each week. But that's the crazy thing, this game has a lot more riding on it than people think. I would have thought that (Lewistown) had a shot to beat Laurel. So I thought there was a good chance that Lewistown would be 1-0 and I thought if we played well against Hardin, we had a good chance to be 1-0. So I thought geez, we could both be 1-0 and it's our home opener and this and that. I thought it could be real exciting. We are still in a really exciting situation, now you just feel like everyone has their back against the wall."

When looking back at the first week of play, there is no doubt, that if the Ponies want to find the win column, they will need to do a better job running the football and stopping the run. Offensively, Havre managed minus five yards rushing in the loss to Hardin, while the Bulldogs racked up 222 on the ground, including two rushing touchdowns in the 15-7 upset of HHS.

"We have to come into this game with a physical mindset," Gatch said. "That's one of the things that we have talked to our kids about all week. We have really put an emphasis on the physicality at practice and the physicality with each rep and looking for that kind of improvement. So we are hoping that we can increase our level of physicality on the field and get things going in the run game, that's going to be a key factor. If we don't do that, they will be able to bend their ears back and they will come right after us and we will be in the same situation we were last week."

The Ponies three backs, Mason Dionne, Jeremiah Hughes and Jazz Schroeder combined for five yards on 21 rushing attempts. Quarterback Trey Murphy was also sacked a number of times, which pushed the overall rushing numbers into the red. Yet, the lack of a running game was also a factor in the inability of the passing game to be effective.

Murphy, a senior, completed just 17-of-40 passes against Hardin for 193 yards, to go along with one touchdown pass and two interceptions. He did find success getting the ball to Ethan Roberts, who caught 10 passes in the opener, as well as Ivar Aageson who scored the team's only touchdown a week ago on a nine-yard reception.

"Last year, they really loaded the box and tried to stop our run game and we were able to throw it on them," Gatch said. "But we just need to go out and be physical. We need to play with high emotions and high intensity."

While the Havre offense will need to be more productive, the Pony defense will also need to do a better job of holding up against the run. The Eagles do boast a stellar junior quarterback in Mitchell Norslien (6-2, 185), but Gatch said the Ponies should also expect a heavy dose of running backs Wyatt Blythe (6-1, 180) and Wesley Jamison (6-1, 190).

"They will come in and run the ball right at us," Gatch said. "They probably threw the ball too many times last week and got themselves in the bind. In the second half against Laurel, they established the run game and I believe that is what they are going to try and do. Their quarterback is good and they have good receivers to throw the ball to and will take some shots down the field. The reality is though, if we can't stop the run, there is no reason to have to pass. If I am watching our film, I would try to get after us and establish the run and take our home-field advantage away, so we obviously can't let that happen."

The defense will need a big night from the front seven, which will include Austin Ratliff, Brock Smith, Taylor Gopher and Tysen Sangrey. Schroeder and Dionne will also play a key role at the second level of the defense, as will Aageson and Roberts in the secondary. Corners Jacob Irvin and Brady Ophus will also be counted on to come up big against a group of talented Eagles wideouts that includes Bridger Grover (5-9, 145), Cody Henderson and Tanner Trafton (6-5, 175).

While beating the Eagles won't be easy, one thing that should favor the Ponies is their home-field advantage, which should be especially strong, considering it's Havre's first home game of the year and that is also come at night.

"I tell people all the time that haven't been to Blue Pony Stadium, I think we have the best atmosphere around when it comes to high school football games," Gatch said. "It's an awesome environment, the fans are right there, there is no getting away from them. So it's going to be fun, they are excited about it. They like playing at Blue Pony and hopefully that translates over to setting the tone early."

Kickoff tonight between the Ponies and Eagles is set for 7.

 

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