NEW PALESTINE FOOTBALL 2014, 2018 & 2019 IHSAA State Champion | 5-Time State Finalist | 21 Conference Titles | 11 Sectional Titles AUG
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NEW PALESTINE FOOTBALL 2014, 2018 & 2019 IHSAA state champion | 5-time state finalist | 21 conference titles | 11 sectional titles AUG. 28, 2020 | vs. BREBEUF JESUIT | KELSO STADIUM | 7 P.M. SCHEDULES #1/3 (5A) NEW PALESTINE DRAGONS (0-0, 0-0 HHC) HEAD COACH: Kyle Ralph (7th season, 88-4). 2018, 2019 Class 5A state champion NEW PALESTINE (0-0, 0-0 HHC) vs Aug. 28 BREBEUF JESUIT 7 p.m. #8/5 (3A) BREBEUF JESUIT BRAVES (0-1, 0-1 CCC) Sept. 4 at Yorktown* 7:30 p.m. HEAD COACH: Matt Geske (1st season, 0-1) Sept. 11 at Mt. Vernon* 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at Pendleton Hts.* 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25 GREENFIELD-CENTRAL* 7 p.m. PREGAME NOTES Oct. 2 at Shelbyville* 7 p.m. SETTING THE SCENE Oct. 9 at New Castle* 7:30 p.m. • The Dragons open their 53rd season of varsity football looking to defend their back- Oct. 16 DELTA* 7:30 p.m. *-Hoosier Heritage Conference game to-back state championships with a new opponent, the Brebeuf Jesuit Braves. The two teams are meeting for the first time ever in the regular season, and the first time BREBEUF (0-1, 0-1 Circle City) overall in 25 years. The Dragons won the only previous meeting 20-16 on Oct. 20, Aug. 21 CHATARD* L 14-27 1995. That contest took place in the first round of the sectional. Aug. 28 at New Palestine 7 p.m. • This week’s matchup of Top 10 teams marks the third consecutive year NP has Sept. 4 RITTER 7 p.m. Sept. 11 at Guerin Catholic* 7 p.m. faced a ranked team in Week 2. The last two seasons, NP defeated Center Grove in Sept. 18 CULVER ACADEMY 7:30 p.m. this week on the schedule. Sept. 25 RONCALLI* 7 p.m. • The Dragons have won 13 consecutive home games and a state-best 28 consecu- Oct. 2 TERRE HAUTE SOUTH 7:30 p.m. tive games,. NP enters the game with a 63-game regular season winning streak, the Oct. 9 at Cathedral 7 p.m. second-longest streak in state history. Oct. 16 at Terre Haute North* 7 p.m. *-Circle City Conference game DRAGONS NOTES • While the Dragons graduated seven starters on each side of the ball, they have HHC STANDINGS experience at key positions. Senior QB Lincoln Roth returns for his second year as a starter. He completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,575 yards and 20 touch- Conf GB Overall downs last season, including a strike to against Valparaiso in the state New Palestine 0-0 -- 0-0 Blake Austin Mt. Vernon 0-0 -- 1-0 championship game that set the Dragons into motion. With 21 catches for 379 yards Pendleton Heights 0-0 -- 1-0 last season, Austin was the Dragons’ second-leading pass catcher and is the leading Yorktown 0-0 -- 1-0 returning receiver. Offensive linemen Matt Brown, Noah Mack, Ethan Sturgeon Delta 0-0 -- 0-0 and Tucker Keevers all have starting experience from 2019. Mack and Brown enter Greenfield-Central 0-0 -- 0-0 the year as four-year starters. New Castle 0-0 -- 0-0 • The Dragons will turn to youth to replace the state’s all-time rushing and scoring Shelbyville 0-0 -- 0-1 leader, Charlie Spegal. Freshman Grayson Thomas gets the call at running back. Last week’s games • The Dragons return two-thirds of their linebacking corps from a defense that allowed Greensburg 41, Shelbyville 7 Mt. Vernon 42, Noblesville 17 8.9 points per game last season, led by senior Richard Clevenger (85 tackles, 9.5 Pendleton Heights 27, Mississinewa 0 TFL, 4.5 sacks) and senior Hunter Burks (36 tackles, 6.5 TFL). Brown (52 tackles, Yorktown 48, Anderson 0 10.5 TFL, 5 sacks) is a returning All-State defensive lineman. Mack (4.5 TFL) is also This week’s games a returning starter on the defensive line. Brebeuf at New Palestine, 7 p.m. • Senior defensive back Aidan Ewers led the state in passes defended last season Mt. Vernon at Richmond, 7 p.m. with 16. He was a MaxPreps Preseason All-State selection. Ewers and linebacker Shelbyville at Franklin, 7 p.m. David DeGuzman, a transfer from Patuxent, Maryland, both bring starting experi- Anderson at Pendleton Heights, 7:30 p.m. ence to the Dragons’ defense. Delta at Eastbrook, 7:30 p.m Muncie Central at Yorktown, 7:30 p.m.. SCOUTING THE BRAVES Sept. 5 games • Led by first-year coach Matt Geske, the Braves dropped their opener 27-14 to 3A New Palestine at Yorktown, 7:30 p.m. No. 1 Bishop Chatard last week. Senior Drake Hagerman leads a pass-oriented Greenfield-Central at Mt. Vernon, 7 p.m. Braves attack. He completed 22-of-34 for 265 yards and two touchdowns last week. Pendleton Heights at New Castle, 7 p.m. He completed 55 percent of his passes for 1,103 yards a year ago. The Braves grad- Shelbyville at Delta, 7:30 p.m. uated three of their top four receivers, but junior Anthony Annee and senior Brendan Petrie each caught six passes last week, combining for 157 yards. Brebeuf gained 5A TOP FIVES 39 yards on the ground last week, led by Jayden Ohmer’s 42 yards. AP IFCA • Brebeuf is coming off a 7-3 season and has posted three straight winning seasons. 1. New Palestine 1. Valparaiso The Braves have had recent success, finishing as 3A runner-up in 2013 and 2017. 2. Valparaiso 2. Cathedral 3. Cathedral 3. New Palestine LOOKING AHEAD 4. FW Dwenger 4. FW Dwenger • The Dragons will open conference play with a three-game roadtrip, traveling to York- 5. Harrison 5. Harrison town next week before trips to Mt. Vernon and Pendleton Heights. FOLLOW US FOLLOW THE GAME • All New Palestine games are broadcast on NewPalRadio.com. All home games are TV: NineStar Channel 9 also video streamed on the New Palestine High School Athletics YouTube page. ONLINE RADIO: NewPalRadio.com NPHS Athletics is on Facebook (NewPalestineDragons), Twitter (@NPHSDragons) Andrew Smith/Mike Jackson and online (NewPalestineAthletics.com). TWITTER: @NPHSDragons NEWPALESTINEATHLETICS.COM | @NPHSDRAGONS GAME 1 NEW PALESTINE vs. BREBEUF JESUIT AUG. 28, 2020 POLLS PROBABLE STARTERS AP 5A Top 10 (Aug. 24) 1. New Palestine (1-0) NEW PALESTINE OFFENSE NEW PALESTINE DEFENSE 2. Valparaiso (1-0) WR: 83 Caleb Byers (5-10, 158, Jr.) DT: 79 Matt Brown (6-3, 238, Sr.) 3. Cathedral (1-0) SL: 13 Andrew Tschaenn (5-9, 162, Sr.) NG: 7 Nick Bastian (6-2, 204, Sr.) 4. FW Dwenger (1-0) LT: 79 Matt Brown (6-3, 238, Sr.) DT: 53 Noah Mack (5-11, 234, Sr.) 5. Harrison (1-0) (+3) 6. Whiteland (1-0) (+4) LG: 55 Thomas Wood (6-1, 241, So.) SLB: 10 David DeGuzman (6-3, 228, Sr.) 7. Floyd Central (1-0) (new) C: 53 Noah Mack (5-11, 234, Sr.) MLB: 2 Richard Clevenger (6-2, 215, Sr.) 8. FW North (1-0) (new) RG: 75 Tucker Keevers (6-2, 265, Sr.) WLB: 28 Hunter Burks (6-1, 204, Sr.) 9. Michigan City (1-0) (new) 10. Decatur Central (0-1) (-5) RT: 76 Luke Burgess (6-7, 251, So.) CB: 22 Jack Johnson (5-10, 153, Sr.) 10. Zionsville (0-1) (-4) SL: 15 Aidan Ewers (5-11, 183, Sr.) CB: 13 Andrew Tschaenn (5-9, 162, Sr.) WR: 3 Blake Austin (6-1, 197, Sr.) AL: 8 Bryant Nunnally (5-9, 162, So.) IFCA 5A Top 10 (Aug. 23) 1. Valparaiso (1-0) (+1) QB: 12 Lincoln Roth (5-11, 173, Sr.) AL: 15 Aidan Ewers (5-11, 183, Sr.) 2. Cathedral (1-0) (+1) RB: 4 Grayson Thomas (5-10, 155, Fr.) FS: 33 Madix Johnson (5-9, 152, Jr.) 3. New Palestine (0-0) (-2) NEW PALESTINE SPECIALISTS 4. FW Dwenger (1-0) 5. Harrison (1-0) (+2) K: 49 Rory Barnard (5-4, 125, So.) 6. Whiteland (1-0) (+3) P: 79 Matt Brown (6-4, 223, Jr.) 7. Zionsville (0-1) (-1) LS: 74 Austin White (5-11, 283, Sr.) 8. Michigan City (1-0) (+1) 9. Decatur Central (0-1) (-4) 10. Concord (0-0) (-1) TEAM/PLAYER NOTES COMPUTERS Sagarin Class 5A (Week 1) SERIES HISTORY STREAKING 1. Cathedral (1-0) The Dragons and Braves have played once, a NP currently holds the state’s longest active 2. New Palestine (0-0) 20-16 New Palestine win on Oct. 20, 1995 in the regular-season winning streak at 63 games and 3. Michigan City (1-0) opening round of the sectional. the longest active overall streak at 28 games. 4. Valparaiso (1-0) LONGEST REGULAR-SEASON UNBEATEN STREAKS, 5. Harrison (1-0) ATOP THE POLLS INDIANA 6. Zionsville (0-1) The defending state champion Dragons 1. 89: Penn, 1985-96 7. FW North (1-0) opened the year No. 1 in both the IFCA and AP 2. 63: New Palestine 2013-present 3. 60: Bloomington/Bloomington South, 1967-73 8. FW Dwenger (1-0) polls. It marks the 65th consecutive poll in which LONGEST ACTIVE REGULAR-SEASON WIN STREAKS 9. Whiteland (1-0) the Dragons have been ranked. NP is No. 1 in 63: New Palestine (2013-) 10. Concord (0-0) the AP poll for the 20th consecutive week. The 24: Southwood (2017-) Dragons dropped to No. 3 in the IFCA poll this 18: Lafayette Jeff (2018-) 17: East Central (2018-) MaxPreps Class 5A (Week 1) week, snapping a run of 20 weeks at No.