FOOTBALL: Stokes, Havre steamroll Whitefish

WHITEFISH — There were only fleeting moments of celebration as Whitefish football took the field for the first time since winning the Class A state championship last November.

The Bulldogs were bulldozed by Havre’s Jase Stokes and the Blue Ponies’ offensive line in an 18-6 loss on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field.

Stokes rolled through the Whitefish defense with regularity while collecting 281 yards on the ground in 31 carries.

The senior back started slow, gaining just 12 yards in the first quarter as the Havre offense struggled to get started, losing 16 yards on its first possession and throwing an interception on its second.

Stokes broke loose on the first play of the second quarter, finding the right sideline on a 27-yard run before the Blue Ponies offense stalled again trying to throw the ball.

Havre gave up any pretense of a passing game late in the second quarter, handing the ball to Stokes three straight times to score its first touchdown of the game, taking a 6-0 lead.

“(That was) right when our line started to pick it up,” Stokes said.

“We played amazing. Everyone was firing on all cylinders. Our (offensive) line, I don’t know how to explain it, they were amazing. Our defense was shut down. It was just a fun game to play in.”

Stokes ripped off a 44-yard run to the Whitefish goal line on the first play of the next possession before the Havre quarterback lost the ball on an attempted sneak on the next play, the last threat for either team to score in the first half.

Whitefish’s offense was efficient in the first half as quarterback Derek Kastella connected on 12 of 16 passes, but couldn’t sustain momentum, gaining just two first downs after its first possession. Often, the Bulldogs had chances, only for a play to just miss.

“The patterns were open. They were just a little overthrown, just a little off. We were close to being real good,” Whitefish coach Chad Ross said.

A fake punt early in the third quarter left a short field for Havre, which returned to its workhorse, handing the ball to Stokes twice to move 22 yards for his second touchdown and a 12-0 lead after another missed conversion. A Havre interception at midfield early in the fourth quarter set up another touchdown drive, again capped by Stokes from a yard out.

Whitefish didn’t get the opportunity to mount a comeback. The Bulldogs gained possession just once in the fourth quarter, scoring on a pass from Kastella to Tyler Cote, who outleapt a Blue Pony defender for a short catch and sprinted 39 yards for a touchdown.

That was the last time the Bulldogs offense would see the ball. Two onside kick attempts, including one that was recovered, were called back for a player offsides and a third went out of bounds with 5 minutes, 15 seconds to play. Havre ran out the clock, leaning on Stokes for a pair of conversions: an 18-yard run on fourth-and-1 after nearly erasing a third-and 23 the play before and a 6-yard run on third-and-2 that effectively ended the game.

The Havre run game controlled the second half, allowing the Blue Ponies to hold the ball for 18:09 of 24 minutes, including all but 2:11 of the fourth quarter.

“Defensively we had a bit of a sieve there,” Ross said.

“But we’ll get better. We have a couple players on the defensive line that haven’t played a whole lot. Those guys are only going to get better as we get going.

“They controlled the line of scrimmage and just pounded us in the third and fourth. Hats off to them, they deserve it.”

It is the first win for Havre in the series since 2011, sending the BNSF Trophy back to the Hi-Line.

Kastella finished 16 for 26 for 121 yards a touchdown and an interception for Whitefish. Cote led the team with 43 yards rushing and 54 yards receiving.

Whitefish grounded the Havre passing attack, limiting Havre quarterback Trey Murphy to 5 for 17 passing for 39 yards and an interception. The Bulldogs nearly picked off three more, but couldn’t get ahold of those chances.

“You could tell we were out of shape. We were just tired when it came down to it. I was worried about that all week,” Ross said.

“We just need to get better. One game isn’t going to define our season. We’ll see where we are when we get to conference play.”

Whitefish gets another test from its schedule next week with a trip to Dillon for a rematch of last year’s state title game. It will be the first game of the season for the Beavers.

Havre 0 6 6 6 — 18

Whitefish 0 0 0 6 — 6

First quarter

No scoring

Second quarter

H—Jase Stokes 3 run (kick failed)

Third quarter

H—Stokes 1 run (pass failed)

Fourth quarter

H—Stokes 1 run (kick blocked)

W—Tyler Cote 39 pass from Derek Kastella (pass failed)