New Palestine High School

In a season-opening matchup of the reigning Indiana and Illinois Class 5A champions, the Hoosier State representative New Palestine Dragons found a way with two big fourth-quarter plays to beat Wheaton St. Francis 28-17 Friday at Kelso Stadium. With the Dragons trailing 17-14 in what had become a defensive struggle, they had squandered a handful of opportunities, including a first-and-goal at the Spartans' 1 yard line, which had been set up by an Evan Walker fumble recovery on the 15. After a nine-yard loss on a sweep, the Spartans intercepted a pass and looked to be headed to the end zone. But Sam Hirschy tracked down a defensive back from behind at the Dragons' 40. Three plays later, Andrew Davis intercepted a pass at his own 16, giving the Dragons the ball with less than nine minutes to go. They'd only need one play. Junior quarterback Rhys Ragan faked a handoff, popped around left end, was sprung by a block from Landon Maddox, and outraced the entire Spartans team 84 yards to the end zone, giving the Dragons a 21-17 lead with 8:32 to go. The Red Rage would make it stand up, dominating the second half. They forced a three-and-out and a punt, and got the ball back near midfield, but a bad snap led to the Dragons' second turnover of the quarter, setting the Spartans up in plus territory. Again, the Dragons defense stiffened, taking advantage of a holding penalty and then forcing three straight incomplete passes. With a chance to put the game away, the Dragons responded. After two short runs ran the clock inside two minutes, the Dragons came out of a timeout dialing up a long pass on third-and-long. Ragan hit Ryder Gardner deep in-stride for a 58-yard touchdown, putting the Dragons up 28-17 and putting the game away with 1:34 left. Gardner had an electric day. He tallied 259 all-purpose yards on six touches - three receptions and three kickoff returns. He had 126 receiving yards on the day. Making his first start as a Dragon, Ragan threw for 147, completing 7-of-15 passes. Ragan (75 yards) and Kade Stephens (69 yards) led a 142-yard rushing attack. The Dragons pounced quickly, taking the opening kickoff and dialing up an early big play. Ragan hit Gardner deep for a 62-yard pass, moving the ball to the Spartans' 7. Two runs later, Stephens punched the ball in from seven yards out to put the Dragons up 7-0. But St. Francis responded with a mammoth 17-play, 80-yard drive that featured two third-down and two fourth-down conversions. Tivias Caldwell scored on a two-yard run to knot the score. The Spartans scored on their first three possessions in a fast-moving first half. After forcing a short punt, the Spartans stalled in plus territory and settled for a 41-yard field goal to go up 10-7 midway through the second. After another Dragons punt, Caldwell broke an 80-yard run with 1:38 left in the half, and the Dragons found themselves trailing by 10. The deficit didn't last long. Gardner had his next big play waiting, taking the ensuing kickoff at his own 1 yard line and outrunning the entire St. Francis team 99 yards for his second career kickoff return touchdown. More importantly, it cut the deficit to 17-14. The Red Rage stiffened, as well. A St. Francis team that gained 235 first-half yards was stymied in the second half, being held to 100 yards, nearly half of which came on the final drive after the game had been decided. Starting quarterback Jadon Wilson left at halftime, one of a handful of injuries suffered by the Spartans, replaced by Alex Taylor. They gained 55 yards total on their first seven possessions of the half, tallying just four first downs. Campbell, who ran for 125 first-half yards, was held to 23 in the second half and 148 for the game. Wilson had completed 8-13 for 74 yards, while Taylor threw for 65 yards on 10-of-20 passing. Walker led the Red Rage with 15 tackles, including six tackles for loss. Waynee Estes and Braydon Newsom had eight tackles each, with Estes tallying 1.5 TFL. The Dragons are now 1-0 on the season after their state-best 29th consecutive win - and their 33rd straight victory at Kelso Stadium. The tough early-season schedule continues next Friday, as 4A No. 1 East Central visits Kelso Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. WEEK 1: Dragons 28, Wheaton (Ill.) St. Francis 17 Friday, Aug. 21 at Kelso Stadium, New Palestine St. Francis (0-1) 7-10- 0 - 0 -- 17 New Palestine (1-0) 7 - 7 - 0 -14 -- 28 Scoring summary NP-Stephens 4 run (Walker kick), 9:30 SF-Caldwell 2 run (E.Kolinski kick), 1:50 SF-E.Kolinski 41 FG, 6:32 SF-Caldwell 80 run (E.Kolinski kick), 1:38 NP-Gardner 99 kickoff return (Walker kick), 1:25 NP-Ragan 84 run (Walker kick), 8:32 NP-Gardner 58 pass from Ragan (Walker kick), 1:34 Team stats First downs: SF 15, NP 9 Rushes-yards: SF 37-189, NP 27-142 Passing C-A-I: SF 19-34-1, NP 7-15-1 Passing yards: SF 146, NP 147 Total plays-yards: SF 71-335, NP 42-289 Fumbles-lost: SF 1-1, NP 3-1 Penalties-yards: SF 9-60, NP 2-15 Punts-avg: SF 3-26.3, NP 4-38.8 Time of possession: SF 29:10, NP 18:50 Individual stats St. Francis Rushing: Caldwell 21-148, Taylor 7-21, Turner 4-20, Wilson 3-(-2), Torres 1-3, McGrath 1(-1) Passing: Wilson 8-13-0-74, Taylor 10-20-0-65, E.Kolinski 1-1-0-7 Receiving: Turner 5-40, Valeri 5-32, Caldwell 3-32, Lohmann 3-23, Humphrey 1-10, Harris 1-7, Taylor 1-2. New Palestine Rushing: Ragan 10-75, Stephens 13-69, Parks 3-6, team 1-(-8) Passing: Ragan 7-15-1-147 Receiving: Gardner 3-126, Oglesby 2-6, Maddox 1-9, Butler 1-6