HAVRE — On the heels of making it to the Class A semifinals — where the Blue Ponies upset Frenchtown along the way — Havre football is bringing in lots of experience in to this new campaign with sights set high.
"We've been playing together for a long time, it's a big group of seniors we got together," senior quarterback Griffin Terry said during Tuesday's practice at Havre High School. "Thirteen of us, yeah, we're gelled together really good."
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"We've been together for, well, since fourth grade," senior lineman Brandon Healy said. "The same guys lining up next to you, you get to know what they do and so, yeah, it's great."
Terry said the seniors all have a very tight bond with one another.
"It's awesome, I love those guys," Terry said. "We have five senior linemen . . . our entire offense is almost seniors and, you know, it's really good for us."
Healy backed up Terry, saying having that core of seniors is vital for the Blue Ponies.
"That's the most important thing, you know, like leadership," Healy said. "We're really heavy on that and just the example that we set for the younger guys."
While Havre was upended by Laurel in the aforementioned semifinals, the team still got to experience a run in the postseason and embrace what it was like.
"Having been there right in those kind of bigger moments, it allows them to maybe play with a little bit more confidence and just kind of be settled in," head coach Jake Eldridge said. "But at the end of the day, every football game is different, right. So you got to go out there and compete, and everybody you're going to play is going to be really, really good."
Going off that, Havre starts up its season at Whitefish, a fellow playoff team from last fall.
"It's going to be good to get that rivalry back because I know that Havre and Whitefish was a big rivalry that's always been there," Eldridge said. "The BNSF trophy's on the line kind of, so our guys are excited about that. But it's going to be great to just kind of knock the rust off a little bit and see who we are, and kind of where this team is going to go from the start."
Terry and Healy both said they feel confident in this group's ability to achieve a lot this season.
"We're capable of a state championship, that's what we got our eyes on," Terry said. "That's what we've been thinking about, that's what we harp on every meeting. Every time we're running gassers, we're thinking about state championship. Make it hurt now, and then we won't have to deal with that pain at the end of the season."
"The big one, I think we're capable of it," Healy said.
The Blue Ponies face the Bulldogs next Friday night, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m.
