Havre High football faces another road test

It takes a good football team to win on the road. The Havre High football team was able to do it last week against the defending state champs and, if the Blue Ponies can do it for the second straight week, it could be a good sign of things to come.

But to win Havre will need to beat Hardin, a scrappy team from the Eastern A, which despite winning just one game a season ago, has its eye on the making the Class A state playoffs. The Bulldogs beat Browning 40-6 in last week’s season opener and they will welcome Havre into their stadium tonight for a key non-conference clash that is set for tonight at 7.

“They are a real good football team,” HHS head coach Ryan Gatch said. “They have some big kids and they are a physical group. It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”

Hardin may have been just 1-7 a season ago, but the Bulldogs held their own in a difficult Eastern A that routinely features some of the best teams in Class A football. And this season, despite losing talented running back Connor Murdoch, Hardin looks to have one of its best teams in years.

“I know their coaches feel that they have the chance to be pretty good,” Gatch said. “And they have some great athletes. It’s a lot like last week. We didn’t really know what to expect going in, and this week we don’t really know either. But we get the chance to play a great football team in a place where Havre hasn’t played football for a really long time, so we are looking forward to that.”

While much of the attention in last week’s win over Whitefish was on Jase Stokes, after the senior nearly broke the school record for rushing yards with 281. But the real MVP of the Whitefish game might have been the defense, which allowed just six points, forced a turnover and held the Bulldogs to little more than 150 yards of total offense.

“I think our defense in general is going to be a strength to be honest,” Gatch said, “We played really good defensively last week and hopefully, we can do that again.”

A big key for the Havre defense will be shutting down an athletic Hardin team that excels running the football, but also has the ability to create big plays through the air. Running back Stefan Walks Over Ice (5-8, 160) will be a big part of the attack. He has the ability to make plays in the running game and as a receiver.

Codi Small (5-8, 150) is a dual-threat quarterback, who can also cause problems with both his feet and his arm and wide receiver Charles Storey is the top target in the passing game.

“They got a little bit different team this year,” Gatch said. “Last year, they had one hard-nosed runner and they ran with him inside a lot. Now, they are doing some different things. They are doing a lot of pulls and doing some more misdirection and things like that.”

Stokes, who was an All-State linebacker a season ago, leads a defense that includes playmakers at all three levels. On the defensive line, Tyler Schaub leads a talented group that also relies heavily on Chris Gabrielsen.

Mason Dionne and Dane Flammond will join Stokes at linebacker, but in the secondary, there will be some changes as Ivar Aageson, a Second-Team All-Conference cornerback, will miss the game due to injury.

Yet, the Ponies will still feature Nate Korb and Isaac Warp at safety, along with Jacob LaBrie, Brady Ophus and Michael Loftus at corner.

Loftus, who stars on the Havre High track team, had not logged enough practices to play in the Whitefish game, but now he is ready to go and will see action at both corner and receiver.

For Havre, the arrival of Loftus is perfectly timed as Aageson’s injury leaves the team with arguably its best pass catcher. But even without Aageson in the lineup, Gatch said he was looking forward to seeing Trey Murphy back out there with a game under his belt.

“I expect Trey to be much more comfortable this week,” Gatch said. “He already looks more comfortable in practice. And with the injury to Ivar, he’s the guy now. He’s our quarterback.”

Murphy, who did thrown an interception against Whitefish, held up well and completed 6-of-16 passes for 76 yards. The reason he didn’t get to throw more was simply that Stokes, was unstoppable, which led to 31 carries and 18 minutes of possession in the second half.

“I think there’s no need to throw the football when you have the lead,” Gatch said. “When you are up two or three touchdowns, that’s when you need to take control of the game. And Jase, he had the hot hand, so there wasn’t much of a reason to throw the football. But I think we will see more from the passing game this week, but we are going to stick with the hot hand.”

While the Ponies will be without Aageson, they will also be without starting tailback Jazz Schroeder, who injured himself against Whitefish and is expected to miss an extended period of time.

That paves the way for Dionne, a freshman to start in the backfield with Stokes. Flammond will also see some time at running back for HHS. The passing game, without Aageson, will likely focus on Korb and Warp, with LaBrie and Loftus also in the mix.

But, at the end of the day, the focus for the Havre offense will still be handing the ball to Stokes as much as possible.

“We know teams will key on him a little more,” Gatch said. “And that might open some other things up, but we are still going to rely on him a lot.”

Tonight’s game will be a rematch of last year’s contest, which the Ponies won 14-13 in Havre thanks to a red-zone interception by Stokes, that stalled a late Hardin drive to take the lead. There is also plenty at stake between the inter-conference rivals, who are both on the Eastern side of the playoff bracket when it comes to wildcard berths, meaning a win, could pay dividends down the road for either team.

“Every game is important,” Gatch said. “And anytime you can go out and get a win that’s a good thing. So that’s what we are shooting for.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.