Havre football has gone back-to-back seasons opening up with a home playoff victory. The most recent triumph came on Friday night, defeating East Helena, (42-19). New Media Broadcasters caught up postgame with three key figures who helped bring home the victory.
Senior running back Tate Nelson was the bell cow, who scored four total touchdowns and had over 200 yards of total offense. He deferred to the entire effort provided by his Blue Pony teammates, even with his career night on the ground.
“That’s perseverance, doing our jobs,” Nelson said. “If we make a mistake, we come back from it. We don’t just let it bring us down.”
“It was a team effort,” Nelson continued. “It wasn’t just me.”
Head coach Jake Eldridge discussed how his team was able to adjust from giving up a first-possession touchdown to the Vigilantes and how his Ponies were able to clamp down and balance out the attack as the contest went on.
“We knew (East Helena was) going to be excited and they were going to come out guns blazing,” Eldridge said. “We just had to weather the storm early and then just get into the football game and do what do.”
“We believe in what we do on both sides of the ball and they believe in each other as players,” Eldridge continued. “Once we got into it, we just started handling business.”
“I thought we did a good job moving the ball down the field, but then getting stops at critical times,” Eldridge said. “I think stopping the run was very key for us.”
Junior quarterback Griffin Terry said that the game was a success because of the hard work done in the previous set of practices and that the environment contributed to the drive the team had to win.
“We had a great week of practice. I think that’s a lot of it,” Terry said. “Coaches (were) giving us great positions to succeed, definitely executing.”
“Big playoff win, it means everything to me,” Terry continued. “Playoffs (in the) Pony Corral (and) being able to be with the team.”
Terry, along with a multitude of teammates, took part in dying their hair blonde earlier last week. He said it will be a sacrifice down the line for what he hopes is a memorable playoff run with his brothers.
“It shows commitment because we don’t plan to be out of here in one, two, or three games,” Terry said. “We plan to be here for four more games.”
“(Dying our hair blonde) just signifies all that for us,” Terry continued. “It shows our commitment and shows our sacrifice.”
The Ponies will be in Frenchtown to take on the undefeated Broncs on Saturday. Tune in to New Media Broadcasters later this week for a preview of that game.
