New Palestine High School

The second season begins Friday as the Dragons football team opens sectional play with a rematch against New Castle. New Castle Trojans (1-8, 0-7 HHC) at 4A #3/3 New Palestine Dragons (7-2, 7-0 HHC) Time: 7 p.m. Location: Kelso Stadium Tickets; $7, cash at gate or https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=56466. NOTE: This is an IHSAA tournament event, so no NPHS season/all-sports or sponsor passes will be accepted. Video: IHSAAtv.org Audio: NewPalRadio.com (coverage begins at 6 p.m.) SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons open sectional play with a rematch of their 35-7 Week 8 victory over New Castle. The Dragons are looking to win their third straight sectional title and their 14th overall. NP has won seven sectional tiles in Coach Kyle Ralph’s first 10 seasons and 13 overall. This is the 12th meeting between the Dragons and Trojans. NP has won all 11 previous meetings, including a 35-7 victory two weeks ago at Kelso Stadium in which Grayson Thomas ran for 210 yards and five touchdowns. The Dragons amassed 302 yards on the ground in that contest. The Dragons remained No. 3 in the IFCA poll for the third straight week. In the AP poll, they moved up one spot to No. 3 to finish the regular season. The Dragons closed out their ninth Hoosier Heritage Conference title in 11 years - and their second straight - with last week’s 38-7 victory over Delta. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons closed out their regular season with a solid performance on both sides of the ball in last week’s victory over Delta. The Red Rage held Delta to 122 total yards - a season-low for the Dragons’ defense. The Dragons have allowed seven points and fewer than 200 yards in three consecutive weeks. The Dragons had four sacks last week and have nine for the last two weeks. Michael Thacker returned after a six-game absence and tallied 2.5 sacks and four tackles for loss. Josh Ranes had nine tackles to lead the Dragons. Senior RB Grayson Thomas ran for 243 yards - the second-highest total of his career - last week. He also tallied two touchdowns. Thomas has posted back-to-back 200-yard games and has broken the 200-yard mark four times this season. With 1,719 yards, Thomas is eighth on the Dragons’ single-season rushing list. He needs 45 yards to pass Luke Canfield for seventh place and 111 to pass DuRon Ford for sixth. Thomas’ 5,617 career rushing yards are second to Charlie Spegal. Thomas leads the HHC in rushing and in scoring, with 22 touchdowns. Senior WR/RB Kyler Kropp has been the Dragons’ jack of all trades. Last week, he had 101 yards from scrimmage - 60 on the ground and 41 through the air - and three touchdowns. Kropp has 1,151 carer receiving yards, eighth-most in school history. He needs 23 yards to pass Brandon Collins for seventh place. Sophomore QB Gavin Neal has thrown for 1,086 yards this season, the 20th 1,000-yard passing season in school history. A Dragon has thrown for 1,000 yards in each of the past 11 seasons. SCOUTING THE TROJANS New Castle enters having dropped eight consecutive games after a season-opening victory over Franklin County. The Trojans are led by sophomore Tylin Thrine, who has 333 rushing yards and 561 receiving yards. He also threw for a touchdown against the Dragons two weeks ago. QB Tyson Lewis is completing 44 percent of his passes for 158 yards per game and nine touchdowns. Last week, Lewis threw for 203 yards and a touchdown in a 44-20 loss to Greenfield-Central. Sophomore Cade Logston had seven catches for 104 yards. LOOKING AHEAD Tonight’s winner will face either Pendleton Heights or Greenfield-Central in the Oct. 27 semifinal round. If the Dragons win, they would host G-C or travel to PH. FOLLOW US All New Palestine games are broadcast free-to-listen at NewPalRadio.com. All home games are also video streamed at IHSAAtv.org on a pay-per-view basis. NPHS Athletics is on Facebook and Instagram (@NewPalestineDragons), Twitter (@NPHSDragons) and online (NewPalestineAthletics.com). (Photo credit: Hanna Beller)