New Palestine High School

The New Palestine football team rallied twice to take a lead over Yorktown, then held off a late Tigers charge to win 30-22 Friday at Kelso Stadium. Grayson Thomas scored two second-half touchdowns and Gavin Neal threw for a TD and ran for one in the first half to lead the Dragons to the victory, while the Red Rage defense intercepted Yorktown quarterback Mason Moulton three times to help seal the victory. Thomas ran for 179 yards on 31 carries, while Neal threw for 119 yards and ran for 76. The Dragons improved to 1-2 on the season and 1-0 in the HHC, with their first victory over a ranked team since Sept. 22, 2022. The Dragons fell behind 9-0 in the first quarter after multiple miscues - a bad snap on a punt allowed Yorktown a first-and-goal, but the Red Rage stiffened and held the Tigers to a field goal. A pick-6 by Wilson Webster gave Yorktown a two-score lead. After three consecutive possessions that ended in miscues - the bad punt snap, a fumble at the Yorktown 38 and the pick-6 - the Dragons found their footing, with some help from the Tigers. A roughing the passer penalty on third down gave the Dragons new life and they took advantage. Two plays after the foul, Gavin Neal rolled out and hit Ty Mitchell wide open in the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown pass, cutting the deficit to 9-7. After forcing a Yorktown punt, the Dragons again drove deep into Yorktown territory, but lost a fumble after having first-and-goal. However, Connor Jacobia intercepted Yorktown's Mason Moulton at the 27. Two plays later, Neal took a quarterback keeper around end for a 12-yard score, putting NP up 14-9. Yorktown drove deep into Dragons territory on the ensuing drive - a 15-play monster that took six minutes off the clock. But after the Tigers had first-and-goal from the five, the Dragons stuffed a run play and a pass. On third down, Garrett Ranes picked off a pass at the goal line to end the threat and send the Dragons into halftime with a lead. Yorktown quickly took a lead in the third quarter. On the first play after forcing a turnover on downs at midfield, Ayden Ewing broke several tackles on a 48-yard touchdown run. The Tigers' two-point conversion attempt was broken up, leaving their lead at 15-14. Again, the Dragons responded, putting together a nine-play, 65-yard drive that featured a 32-yard pass to Cameron Rollyson that set the Dragons up in the red zone. Thomas finished the drive with a 1-yard run, giving the Dragons the lead back at 20-15. The two-point conversion was stopped, keeping the lead at five. The Dragons forced a punt on the next drive, then marched 75 yards in nine plays, starting with a 29-yard pass to Mitchell on first-and-15. Later, with the Dragons facing third-and-9 at the Yorktown 33, Neal ducked away from an unblocked blitzer, rolled to the right and hit Kropp with a strike. Kropp then pinballed off several Tigers for a 15-yard gain and a first down. A penalty moved the ball into the red zone and Thomas capped it with an 8-yard TD run to extend the lead to 27-15. Yorktown drove to the Dragons' 29 on the ensuing drive, but Mason Hiatt's interception ended the threat. The Dragons moved to the Yorktown 7, chewing up more than five and a half minutes, before stalling and adding to their lead with a 24-yard Jake Wells field goal with 3:33 left. Yorktown wouldn't go away. Moulton hit Ephraim Dougherty for a 43-yard TD with 2:40 left to cut the lead to 30-22. The Dragons recovered the ensuing onside kick, but were unable to convert on two short-yardage plays, giving the Tigers one final shot with 1:06 left. Yorktown drove to the Dragons' 27, but two passes broken up in the end zone in the closing seconds sealed the game. Moulton threw for 182 yards in the contest, with 100 coming on his final nine attempts, in which he was 6-for-9. Neal's 195 yards of total offense were a career high. The Dragons are next in action Sept. 8 at home against Mt. Vernon. Week 3: Dragons 30, Yorktown 22 Friday, Sept. 1, 2023 at Kelso Stadium, New Palestine Yorktown (2-1, 0-1) 9 - 0 - 6 - 7 -- 22 New Palestine (1-2, 1-0) 0 - 14 - 6 - 10 -- 30 Scoring summary Y-Weaver 22 FG, 5:51 Y-Webster 10 interception return (kick failed), :28 NP-Mitchell 30 pass from Neal (Wells kick), 10:06 NP-Neal 12 run (Wells kick), 6:12 Y-Ewing 48 run (pass failed), 9:01 NP-Thomas 1 run (pass failed), 6:05 NP-Thomas 8 run (Wells kick), 11:42 NP-Wells 24 FG, 3:33 Y-Dougherty 43 pass from Moulton (McKay kick), 2:40 Team stats First downs; Y 12, NP 21 Rushes-yards: Y 24-128, NP 54-214 Passing C-A-I: Y 14-39-3, NP 6-12-1 Passing yards: Y 184, NP 119 Total plays-yards: Y 63-312, NP 66-333 Penalties-yards: Y 10-79, NP 7-59 Fumbles-lost: Y 0-0, NP 4-2 Punts-avg: Y 5-40.6, NP 1-45.0 Time of possession: Y 22:09, NP 25:51 Individual stats Yorktown Rushing: Ewing 13-77, Moulton 7-48, Webster 3-5, Cummins 1-(-2) Passing: Moulton 14-39-3-184 Receiving: Williams 5-64, Perdue 5-58, Dougherty 3-57, Webster 1-5 New Palestine Rushing: Thomas 31-180, Neal 19-70, Armstrong 1-5, Kropp 1-(-5), team 2-(-36) Passing: Neal 6-12-1-119 Receiving: Mitchell 3-62, Rollyson 2-42, Kropp 1-15