Havre rides by Whitefish

Blue Ponies pull away in final half, win 28-12

By DAVID LESNICK/The Daily Inter Lake

WHITEFISH - Quarterback C.J. Evans provided the spark and Grant Pattison delivered the knock out blows as Havre dropped Whitefish 28-12 on a warm, muggy Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field.

Evans threw a pair of touchdown passes and Pattison returned a punt 46 yards for one score, and followed that with a 56-yard touchdown scamper down the Whitefish sideline in the Class A season football opener for both teams.

Evans hit Ryan Myers crossing over the middle in heavy traffic for an 8-yard touchdown strike with 8 seconds left before halftime to give Havre the lead for good.

The Blue Ponies then came out in the second half and dominated.

"I thought that was a turning point," Havre coach Kevin Sukut said of the TD right before the half ended.

"We were misfiring until that happened. That kind of gave us a spark."

The Blue Ponies, relying on Evans' arm on their first scoring drive, scored on their opening possession of the third quarter, marching 67 yards in eight plays. Evans capped it off with a pass to Casey Schaub, who tipped the ball in the air, but still managed to gather it in and race to the end zone. The 18-yard touchdown pass was the only time Havre threw on that drive.

After Whitefish failed to pick up a first down on its second series in the third quarter, Pattison fielded a punt near midfield and weaved his way past a host of Whitefish tacklers for a touchdown. That put Havre in front 21-6 with 2:51 left in the quarter.

Pattison then put the game away with his second TD, thanks to a dandy downfield block by receiver Layne Waid in the flat. That allowed Pattison to break it.

"It's just my opinion, but they (Bulldogs') got tired as the game went along)," Sukut said.

"We were a little tired, too, but we were shuttling in a lot of defensive linemen. We have good size up front with guys 250, 260. When they are leaning on you the whole game, it wears you down."

And Whitefish coach Patrick Dryden agreed.

"They really wore us down," he said.

"Their depth wore us down. Our running backs just didn't have the speed. They were so tired from playing defense."

Whitefish did get on the scoreboard first, however. On its third series, which began at the Havre 49, the Bulldogs went on a 12-play scoring drive. The Bulldogs converted twice on fourth down, the second was on fourth and seven at the 11-yard line. Quarterback Mac Roche drilled a low-tight spiral into the chest of a kneeling Christopher Forrest, who had a defender draped over his back.

The Bulldogs scored on the next play, a 2-yard run by Tanner Benedict with 11:32 left in the second quarter.

Whitefish added a touchdown with 10:25 remaining on a 5-yard burst up the middle by Jeremy Nielsen.

Whitefish had another second-half drive stall at the Havre six-yard line.

"We mixed it up, had a lot of short passes," Dryden said.

"We showed some patience on those drives."

Overall, Dryden saw some positives to build on.

"For me, these early games I like to see if our kids can compete," he said.

"Check their heart. I thought we showed a lot of heart."

The Bulldogs received a strong defensive effort from sophomore Maxl Smith. Making his first varsity start, the linebacker finished with two interceptions.

Whitefish continues with nonconference play on Friday with a trip to Browning. Havre is idle this week.

Havre also won here a year ago in the opener, rallying for a 22-19 victory.

Havre 0 7 14 7 - 28

Whitefish 0 6 0 6 - 12

Whitefish - Tanner Benedict 2 run (kick blocked)

Havre - Ryan Myers 8 pass from C.J. Evans (Danny Roe kick)

Havre - Casey Schaub 18 pass from Evans (Roe kick)

Havre - Grant Pattison 46 punt return (Roe kick)

Havre - Pattison 56 run (Roe kick)

Whitefish - Jeremy Nielsen 5 run (kick failed)

Hav Wfsh

First downs 8 10

Rushes-yards 27-157 38-90

Passing yards 95 131

Passing (com/att/TD/int) 7-22-2-2 13-22-0-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties NA NA

Individual Stats

RUSHING - Havre, Grant Pattison 10-120, Casey Schaub 4-23, C.J. Evans 6-9; Whitefish, Daniel Simmons 12-69, Tanner Benedict 11-43.

PASSING - Havre, Evans 7-22-2-2-95; Whitefish, Mac Roche 13-22-0-0-131.

RECEIVING - Havre, Matt Emge 2-35, Myers 1-8, Schaub 1-30; Whitefish, Kalin Hale 4-41, Christopher Forrest 3-26, Connor Silliker 2-45.