New Palestine High School

The Class 4A No. 2 New Palestine football team expected its advantage to be in the trenches as it faced 6A No. 6 Westfield in Friday's season opener. Facing a talented Westfield front seven Friday, the Dragons went to the ground early and, once they seized the lead, rode the offensive line and running game to hold off the visiting Shamrocks in a 42-28 Dragons victory at Kelso Stadium. The Dragons rushed for 299 yards, with junior Grayson Thomas tallying 187 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. Eian Roudebush and Kyler Kropp also each tallied rushing touchdowns in the victory. The decisive moment came midway through the second quarter through the air. The Dragons sent out the punt team, facing a 4th-and-7 from the Shamrocks' 44. While the Dragons held a 14-7 lead, they had just surrendered a 95-yard kickoff return for a score and momentum was swinging Westfield's way. Quarterback Danny Tippit - also the Dragons' punter - faked the punt and instead fired a strike to Isaiah Thacker down the left sideline. Thacker reeled the pass in and took it in for a score to put NP up 21-7 with 1:39 remaining in the half. Westfield drove to the Dragons' 8 on the ensuing possession, but three incomplete passes and a missed field goal allowed the Dragons to take a two-score lead into halftime. On the first play of the second half, Eli Hook pounced on a fumbled handoff. Three snaps later, Thomas rumbled in from 5 yards out to put the Dragons up 28-7. Then, it was time for the line to shine. Westfield's offense found another gear, as quarterback Cole Ballard threw a 26-yard TD pass with 7:53 remaining in the third to cut the lead to 28-14. But that's when the Dragons rode the line, running 14 times in a 15-play, 80-yard, eight-minute drive that bled out the remainder of the third quarter and shortened the game. Facing second-and-7, Tippit ran for a first down. Thomas then carried for 10 and Tippit for 15 to bring the ball into Westfield territory. A third-down conversion pass to Blaine Nunnally kept the drive alive. Another nine-yard run by Thomas set the Dragons up in the red zone. He carried to the 1, then punched it in on the first play of the fourth quarter to put NP up 35-14. Westfield again scored on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to two, but the Dragons again went to the ground. Roudebush took over at quarterback and hit Thacker for a 20-yard pass to move the chains to the 46. A nine-yard run by Thomas, a 10-yarder by Kropp and a 13-yard carry by Roudebush set the Dragons up in the red zone. Roudebush carried to the 1 on third-and-3 from the 13, then punched it in two plays later to put NP up 42-21. It was an 11-play, 74-yard, six-minute drive that bled much of the fourth quarter. Westfield again scored with 1:50 left and recovered the ensuing on-side kick. The Shamrocks drove to the Dragons' 7, but got confused on downs and spiked the ball on fourth down, allowing the Dragons to run out the clock. The Dragons had a dominant first drive, going 80 yards in 16 plays, mixing Thomas' runs and Tippit's passing, converting two third downs and two fourth downs - the latter two on Roudebush runs - to keep the drive alive. Thomas then broke free from 26 yards out, going up the middle untouched, to put the Dragons on the board. The Red Rage forced a three-and-out and the Dragons drove to the Westfield 22 on the next drive, but a missed field goal kept it 7-0. Twice, Westfield drove inside the Dragons' 30 but turned the ball over on downs before the Dragons went on a seven-play march that ended in Kropp's 18-yard run, putting NP up 14-0 with 3:10 remaining in the half. In addition to Thomas' 187 yards, Kropp ran for 41 yards, Roudebush 42 and Tippit 30. Thacker had 79 receiving yards and Nunnally 64 to lead the Dragons in the receiving game. Tippit completed 9-of-16 passes for 150 yards. The Dragons gained 274 yards in the first half and 449 for the game, scoring on their last five possessions and six of their eight possessions in the game. Westfield tallied 347 yards, including 216 after halftime. Ballard was 13-of-27 for 192 yards and completed passes to eight different receivers. Boxscore: Dragons 42, Westfield 28 Westfield (0-1) 0 - 7 - 7 - 14 -- 28 New Palestine (1-0) 7 - 14 - 7 - 14 -- 42 Scoring summary NP-Thomas 26 run (Tanksley kick), 6:32 NP-Kropp 18 run (Tanksley kick), 3:10 W-Williams 95 kickoff return (Boehm kick), 2:57 NP-I.Thacker 44 pass from Tippit (Tanksley kick), 1:39 NP-Thomas 5 run (Tanksley kick), 11:00 W-Schramm 26 pass from Ballard (Boehm kick), 7:53 NP-Thomas 1 run (Tanksley kick), 11:51 W-Garnett 35 run (Boehm kick), 10:43 NP-Roudebush 1 run (Tanksley kick), 4:54 W-Williams 10 run (Boehm kick), 1:50 Team stats First downs: W 14, NP 22 Rushes-yards: W 31-151, NP 50-299 Passing C-A-I: W 14-27-0, NP 9-17-0 Passing yards: W 196, NP 150 Total plays-yards: W 58-347, NP 67-449 Fumbles-lost: W 2-1, NP 0-0 Punts-avg: W 1-51.0, NP 1-22.0 Time of possession: W 19:49, NP 28:11 Individual statistics Westfield Rushing: Garnett 7-69, Williams 10-47, Cregar 7-34, Ballard 6-12, team 1-(-11) Passing: Ballard 14-26-0-196, team 0-1 Receiving: Aramboles 4-80, Schramm 2-41, Nosler 1-25, Webster 1-15, Cregar 1-11, Lieske 1-10, Williams 3-9, Garnett 1-5 New Palestine Rushing: Thomas 24-187, Kropp 8-41, Roudebush 10-42, Tippit 7-30, team 1-(-1) Passing: Tippit 9-16-0-150, Roudebush 0-1-0-0 Receiving: I.Thacker 4-79, Bl.Nunnally 4-64, Kropp 1-7