Pony Extra: Blue Ponies find even more rushing power

From the start of the season, the strength of the Havre High football team’s offense has been the running game and that was never more clear than it was Friday against Browning.

Coming into the season, head coach Ryan Gatch and his coaching staff was looking forward to having one of the top returning rushing tandems in Class A football. Not only did the Ponies have Jase Stokes, an All-State performer, they also had Jazz Schroeder, a Second-Team All-Conference running back in his own right last season.

Unfortunately, in football, plans have to change. And because of an injury to Schroeder, one that ended his season, the Ponies needed a new option in the backfield and with four games left on the schedule, it looks like HHS has found one, possibly even two.

While Stokes has been a machine with more than 600 rushing this season and three games with more than 100 yards on the ground, Havre has struggled to find a consistent No. 2 option. Mason Dionne was given some opportunities, but coaches worried that playing too much on both sides of the ball would wear the freshman down. That has led to Dane Flammond, who hasn’t played running back since his freshman season, to take on some carries and so far, it’s worked out beautifully.

“He’s a very good football player,” HHS head coach Ryan Gatch said of Flammond. “We knew from watching him that he was a very savvy player, and we decided that we wanted to expand his role a little bit and get him over on the offensive side of the ball. It’s been interesting; he hasn’t played running back since he was a freshman, but he’s done a nice job for us.”

Flammond, who received eight carries against Browning, racked up 47 yards, which gives him a two-game total of 12 carries for 79 yards, an average of more than 6.5 yards per carry.

“I think a lot of the credit has to go to the offensive line,” Flammond said. “I know that they don’t get a lot of the credit and that it usually goes to whoever is running the ball, but they really deserve the credit, nothing would happen without them.”

Flammond, who was a starting linebacker for the Ponies a season ago, has started to make a greater impact on that side of the ball and against the Indians had 11 tackles and an interception. The senior is among the team leaders in tackles, but the sweetest moment for him so far this season may have come against the Indians, when he scored his first varsity touchdown as a running back.

“It felt really good, nothing like it,” Flammond said of his touchdown. “I am getting a whole new perspective and I am happy to be able to play both sides of the ball now. I haven’t played running back since my freshman year and I wasn’t very good at it, so I just figured that I would go to defense and focus on doing that. But with some coaching, I have been able to do it, and it’s actually been pretty interesting.”

Yet, Dionne also made a name for himself against the Indians, posting his first 100-yard rushing game and also scoring a pair of touchdowns, giving him a total of three now on the season.

“Mason Dionne stepped up and had a heck of a game,” Stokes said. “We were really fired up this game. Our receivers and our offensive lineman had some great blocking, and that really helped open things up.”

There is no question that the running game is going to be key down the stretch for Havre and Stokes will always be key — HHS is 3-0 when he runs for 100 yards or more and 1-1 when he doesn’t. But it will be nice for the Ponies to know that, if needed, there are others besides Stokes, who can be counted on to run the football.