HAVRE — Following a 6-3 regular season, Havre football has started the playoffs in the best way possible by going 2-0.
Last Saturday, the team was coming off a first-round 42-19 win over East Helena and had to hit the road to face unbeaten No. 1 seed Frenchtown. It didn't faze the Blue Ponies though, as they pulled off a convincing 47-30 upset victory.
"We know we earned our spot in the playoffs," senior Gage Chapman told MTN Sports at Tuesday's practice. "In the playoffs, anything can be done, no matter what rank."
"It was just all of our preparation all year," senior Colter Solomon said. "Just working every day in practice, and just knowing that we can do it. Like they play the games for a reason."
Last year, this type of game was one Havre lost, as it fell to eventual state champion Dillon in the quarterfinals. This time around, Chapman, Solomon and coach Jake Eldridge all had confidence they could keep the season going.
"Same situation last year, we went down, lost by one touchdown to Dillon who was the No. 1-ranked team, which was unfortunate," Chapman said. "But glad this year that we could get it done."
"Everybody was pretty upset about the Dillon game last year," Solomon said. "So we just came into this year just knowing that we wanted to accomplish something great."
"It was just, you know executing their fundamentals," Eldridge said. "At this point in the season you know every team that you play is going to be very, very good. They're going to be well coached, they play hard, they're competitive."
Up next for Havre is a rematch with Laurel — a team the Blue Ponies beat earlier this season 27-20.
The winner gets the right to move on to the state championship game.
"It's been four years here, started since I was a freshman and we never made it this far," Chapman said. "I'm excited, I really like the opportunity to go play for a championship, get a trophy."
"Playing in the state title game would mean everything to me," Solomon said. "Four years of hard work, and just helping and seeing the program grow is just huge."
"Going up against a very good team in Laurel, very competitive, and it was a competitive ballgame when we had them up here at our place," Eldridge said. "Going on the road, we got to do it again. We've kind of become road warriors here, but the guys are really excited about it."
Havre heads to Laurel for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.
