EAST HELENA — That sandpaper feeling in their eyes and mouth, from dirt and debris lifted airborne by Friday night’s wind storm, will subside, but grit is what will ultimately carry Havre High (4-2) back into the Class A playoffs.

A characteristic synonymous with life on the Hi-Line showed up in the red zone with the Blue Ponies’ defense clinging to a five-point advantage and a minute to play. Then again in the four-touchdown performance of running back Tate Nelson in Friday’s 33-28 road victory over an East Helena (3-3) program starving for a playoff berth.

“It’s the greatest experience with the boys,” Nelson said. “Nothing better.”

When senior defensive end Chris Bell saw the football laying on the turf, he eyed his team’s ticket to victory.

Shut out all second half, Havre was turned away inside East Helena’s 20-yard line seeking a fourth-quarter kill shot. Instead, the Vigilantes drove 75 yards chasing their own.

Havre High junior quarterback Griffin Terry dives for the pylon during the second half of Friday's 33-28 road victory over East Helena.

“I just kept saying, ‘believe’ and ‘trust,’” Havre High head coach Jake Eldridge said. “We had our leadership meeting this morning before we left and those were the two words we kept talking about.

“Believing in the guys, believing in the coaches, believing in the preparation.”

On 4th and 1 at Havre’s 7 with 66 ticks left, the Vigilantes false started, then mishandled a snap. Bell, along with fellow senior Gage Chapman, jumped on East Helena quarterback Jack Taylor, putting the football back in their own signal-caller’s hands for ceremonial kneel-downs.

“When I saw it, I just thought ‘go,’” Bell said. “Put my head down, pinned my ears back.

“It was one of the best feelings I’ve had this year. It was such a close game towards the end.”

A week removed from his 180-yard, two-touchdown coming out party against Glendive, East Helena’s Kyler Kleppelid trounced into the end zone thrice on Friday. His 27-yard third-quarter score pulled the Vigilantes closer than they had been since the first.

East Helena senior running back Kyler Kleppelid scored three touchdowns, including two in the second half, during Friday's 33-28 loss to Havre High.

It was Kleppelid, in for the injured Hayden Wright, East Helena then turned to attempting a walk-off victory that fell seven yards short.

“Just disappointed that we couldn’t find a way to get it done,” East Helena head coach Tyler Murray said. “I gotta be a little better calling a play there at the end and getting our guys in a spot to be successful.

“We challenged [the players] a little bit at halftime and they trusted each other and trusted themselves to go out and make some plays. That was huge.”

As unstoppable as Kleppelid was down the stretch, Havre’s Nelson was equally so in the first half.

Havre High senior running back Tate Nelson piled up four first-half rushing touchdowns and 192 ground yards in Friday's 33-28 road victory over East Helena.

Healthy after missing back-to-back games with injury, Nelson piled up 192 rushing yards, burying East Helena in a tidal wave of first-half chuck plays.

“This is a big comeback game,” Nelson said. “I’ve been missing competing with my buddies. My big dogs up front, I couldn’t have done it without them. They gotta eat. We believed and we got it.”

Nelson’s 26-yard score just before halftime placed East Helena in a 19-point hole, joining paydirt runs of four, 52 yards, and three yards.

“I was hyped with all the boys,” Nelson said. “I didn’t expect to get four coming back from off two games. It was pretty exciting.”

The senior, still attempting to earn respect from collegiate coaches, shared an embrace with his skipper postgame in a heart-felt moment on one of the biggest nights of Nelson’s high school career.

Havre High senior running back Tate Nelson piled up four first-half rushing touchdowns and 192 ground yards in Friday's 33-28 road victory over East Helena.

“Tate Nelson is the heart of this team,” Eldridge said. “The kid is a competitor, he’s tough as nails. Hard runner. I could go on and on. He’s just a great team player, loves being a Blue Pony, and the hardest worker we got.”

“We’re brothers, basically,” Bell, Nelson’s longtime teammate, said. “We’ve always been there for each other, we’ve been playing with each other since fourth grade. It’s awesome to see us now as seniors playing football and winning close games like that. That’s what really makes me happy.”

A pivotal game for the playoff aspirations of both squads, Havre can now challenge for a top-three seed with Laurel and Fergus, two teams ahead or even with the Blue Ponies, remaining.

“One game closer,” as Eldridge said Friday night.

East Helena, after experiencing the highest of highs each of the last two weeks, must now regroup with two winnable home games and a postseason shot on the horizon.

East Helena senior quarterback Jack Taylor has now tossed 13 touchdowns without an interception in his last three games. Taylor found Parker Taylor for a first-half score in Friday's 33-28 loss to Havre High.

“We get 24 hours to feel bad, just like we had 24 hours to feel good last week,” Murray said. “We’ll move on and see the positives from the game. On to Lockwood.”

Havre has now won three straight after beginning the season 1-2, the wind now fully in the Blue Ponies’ sails.

“It’s big,” Nelson said. “It’s real big with the [playoff] seeding. We needed this.”

“I feel like it can get us a higher seed,” Bell said of Friday's victory. “I feel like it’s gonna push us further and this win will really propel us into next week.”