Young Ponies look steady in scrimmage

Havre High senior Zach Plum (left) runs after a catch during Saturday night's Blue White Scrimmage at Blue Pony Stadium. The HHS varsity offense and defense both made big plays in the scrum as the Ponies prepare for this Saturday's season opener at Whitefish.

It wasn't exactly a real game, but the Havre High football team did get a chance to compete in front of fans over the weekend.

The Central A Blue Ponies held their annual Blue/White scrimmage on Saturday evening at the Blue Pony Stadium in Havre. The freshme

HHS running back Tristan Manuel runs free during Saturday night's Blue/White Game at Blue Pony Stadium.

n, junior varsity and varsity squads got a chance to run through the playbook as a completely different team from last season.

And just as a young team typically does, the Ponies had their ups and downs as they still attempted to piece the team together that will even utilize some freshman talent this season.

One of those freshman being Dane Warp, the next in line to quarterback the Blue Ponies.

Warp led the young HHS offense for four series and looked and played well. On the first drive he connected with Zach Plum on a 15-yard touchdown, and did the same with Thurman Holdsclaw on the second drive. Warp also scored on a 12-yard scramble after a bad snap. On the fourth drive Holdsclaw punched in a one-yard rushing touchdown, to cap off a nice showing by the No. 1 offense.

It seemed Holdsclaw was headlining the offense as the No. 1 weapon, while Warp already proved to have good chemistry with his receivers. Holdsclaw made big plays like a 25-yard rush, an 18-yard rush and a 12-yard reception. Warp also made big time passes to Thomas Gruber and Ned Malone.

It was hard to judge the defense as they faced the scout team, but some individuals did make a strong showing. Dustin Odegard had a tackle for a loss and a handful of hurries. Tyler Adams also had two sacks, while Plum reeled in an interception.

"I thought the offense played very hard, considering the young age of our team," Havre High head coach Jason Christenson said. "We don't have a lot of senior leadership, but the seniors we do have are solid leaders. But the offense executed well and now we know where we need to improve and build. (On defense), we were pretty generic. We just ran some basic coverages and didn't go through any of our stunt packages or other fronts. But what we had in, I though they executed very well."

Overall, it was a good showing by the young Ponies, but they still have work to do before their season opener in Whitefish this Saturday.

The Ponies travel to Whitefish to face the Bulldogs Saturday at 2 p.m., then play their home opener on Aug. 31 against Butte Central.