This week, the Havre Blue Ponies football program (1-0) has been going through practice in anticipation of a huge game on Friday night. The team will travel down to Billings to take on the Billings Central Catholic Rams. Head coach Jake Eldridge gave a feel for the opponent as well as its head coach, Jim Stanton.
“They’re a well-coached team.” Eldridge said. “They’re traditionally one of the powers not only in the Eastern ‘A’ but in the entire state.”
“Coach Stanton does a heck of a job with them in both schemes and fundamentals,” Eldridge continued. “The kids play really hard (and) really physical on both sides of the ball. They don’t make a lot of mistakes (and) they have very talented football players. It’s a great challenge for us to on the road down to their place.”
On the other side of the coin, the Blue Ponies put on an offensive showcase last time out as they beat Hardin, (42-13). Senior Ciaran Courtnage and sophomore Griffin Terry split the reps between quarters. Coach Eldridge addressed the quarterback play.
“It’s pretty organic (and) something that we are just going to have to keep tabs on every day and see how it morphs as the season goes along,” Eldridge said. “They both do things really well and complement each other in that way.”
“We’ll see how things shake out as we move forward,” Eldridge continued. “You’d obviously love to have a set-in-stone starter, but they both bring things to the table that are good for our team in different ways, so we’re going to try and utilize that as much as we can.”
Coach Eldridge is confident in the players that will be suiting up on Friday night.
“The kids understand what we are trying to get done,” Eldridge said. “Fundamentally, we’re not where we want to be, but we’re definitely in a good spot going forward.”
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” Eldridge continued. “We like who we have (and) we like what we can do. We’re looking forward to the matchup.”
Friday night’s game between Havre and Billings Central Catholic will kick off at 6pm and air on KOJM-610AM.
