Havre gallops past Whitefish

The Daily Inter Lake

WHITEFISH - When you're trying to cope with the loss of your starting running back and starting quarterback to season-ending injuries, plus a frustrating forfeit after using an ineligible player, your first choice of opponents probably would not be the top- ranked team in the state.

Such was the case Saturday, as Class A No. 1 Havre rolled up 42 points in the first half and cruised to a 42-7 win over reeling Whitefish.

"Everything about this game is being left here," Bulldogs coach Mike Ferda said. "No matter how much we wanted different, this game probably happened the way it was going to happen with everything that was going on."

The Blue Ponies owned every aspect of the first half, scoring on five of seven possessions. Quarterback Gary Wagner torched the Whitefish secondary for 261 yards and four touchdowns on 11-of-12 passing.

Receiver Coda Tchida hauled in all four of Wagner's scoring strikes and had six catches for 173 yards.

Overall Havre gained 368 yards in the first two quarters and had 14 first downs.

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, had just 36 yards, all on the ground, and only one first down not via penalty with two fumbles and an interception, plus lineman Matt Mangold was ejected for a flagrant foul.

The clock ran continuously throughout the second half because of the score.

"It looked a lot at times out there like a varsity team playing a JV team," Ferda said.

In a lot of ways, the outcome was inevitable. Star running back Jolly Righetti - also a key element in the defensive backfield - tore his right anterior cruciate ligament last week and had season-ending surgery Wednesday.

The week before Righetti's injury, starting quarterback Taylor Ferda was felled for the year by a recurring back injury.

And to top it all off, the Bulldogs were forced to forfeit their season-opening win over Hamilton because of an ineligible player.

That's an awful lot for one team to deal with in such a short time, and the attitude and energy level of the Whitefish players was not where it needed to be.

"Their attitude did not stay up," Ferda said. "They were saying what they needed to say and trying like young men to put good a face on, but I think the game happened the way the game was going to happen.

"Our season now gets to that point with the last non-conference game that our season is going to hinge on how we respond to this game.

"Next week if we come out and we're licking our wounds and making excuses and trying to find reasons not to play hard and not to get back up in the saddle, then it's going to be a long season for us."

The lone bright spot for Whitefish came in the fourth quarter when Tim Lehner capped off a seven-play 51-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge.

BLUE PONIES 42, BULLDOGS 7

Havre 21 21 0 0 - 42

Whitefish 0 0 0 7 - 7

First Quarter

Hav-Coda Tchida 35 pass from Gary Wagner (Wagner kick), 10:23.

Hav-Tchida 11 pass from Wagner (Wagner kick), 6:50.

Hav-Scott Robinson 5 run (Wagner kick), 1:09.

Second Quarter

Hav-Tchida 60 pass from Wagner (Wagner kick), 11:39.

Hav-Tchida 56 pass from Wagner (Wagner kick), 6:50.

Hav-Robinson 3 run (Wagner kick), 4:58.

Fourth Quarter

WF-Tim Lehner 1 run (Dan Jones kick), 8:06.

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Hav WF

First downs 16 8

Rushes-yards 29-88 24-26

Passing 257 49

Comp-Att-Int 13-14-0 4-11-1

Punts 1 5

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties-Yards 9-75 5-29

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Havre, Robinson 10-65, Scott Miller 3-25, Colby Mader 5-9, Wagner 6-6, Tanner Donovan 1-0, Garett Neiffer 1-(minus-2), Jared Weigel 3-(minus-3). Whitefish, Lehner 4-17, Kyle Becker 5-17, Brad Kuntz 2-15, Cody Idol 1-4, Luke Haberkern 5-4, Zach Fennelly 6-(minus-19).

PASSING-Havre, Wagner 13-14-0-257. Whitefish, Fennelly 4-11-1-49.

RECEIVING-Havre, Tchida 6-173, Marc Mariani 2-48, Robinson 3-28, Neiffer 1-12, Rick Houim 1-(minus-4). Whitefish, Chris Hicks 3-33, Casey Speer 1-16.

MISSED FIELD GOAL-Havre, Wagner 34 (WL).