Blue/White day a big Saturday for Blue Pony teams

The regular season starts for most of the Havre High fall sports programs are still about a week out, but that doesn't mean the Blue Pony football and volleyball teams can't face a little extra competition prior.

Before season debuts and home openers, both the Havre High volleyball and football squads hold an annual Blue/White scrimmage, giving the teams a final chance to work and tweak game plans, as well as showcase to fans what the upcoming season has to offer.

Saturday the volleyball team will put the freshman, junior varsity and varsity squads on the floor. The freshmen will start at 1:30 p.m., followed by the freshmen and junior varsity at 2 p.m., and the junior varsity and varsity at roughly 2:30 p.m. at the Havre High gymnasium in Havre.

"We really want to show that we have a quick offense, and to show that our passes are there," Havre High head volleyball coach Melanie Skoyen said. "And this is the best time to try some new things, it gets the jitters out, they are in uniform, and we can actually try some things in game speed and situations."

The HHS football team will put the nightcap on the day's events at the Blue Pony stadium in Havre.

The gates at the stadium will open up at 5 p.m., also marking the start of the annual BBQ. Team and individual photos will also take place at 5 p.m., while the froshmore scrimmage will kickoff at 5:45, and roughly end at 6:30. The cheerleaders and coaches will also get some recognition prior to the froshmore scrimmage, and will then be followed by a group cheer. The evening will of course be highlighted by the varsity scrimmage, wrapping up around 7:15 p.m.

"Because of how young we are this year," Havre High head football coach Jason Christenson said. "And the positions we are trying to fill, we are basically trying to see how competitive the kids are going to be. We need to see how much these kids have learned, and how much they have absorbed this last week of practice, and mainly find out who our starters are going to be. We are just going to see what we've got."

The annual volleyball and football scrimmages are the next best thing to facing another team in competition. After a summer filled with open gyms, weight lifting, camps, and now practice, these scrimmages work as a final preview for HHS. Both programs will have the opportunity to tweak, add, or just work on their game plans prior to their season openers.

The varsity volleyball team will scrimmage at 2:30, and the varsity football team will roughly begin at 6:30 p.m.