New Palestine High School

The New Palestine football team has made teams see red in recent weeks. Red Rage, that is. The Dragons were again dominant against a powerful offense Friday, clinching the program's third consecutive sectional title and 14th overall with a 42-6 victory over Mt. Vernon. The Dragons held MV to 174 total yards - the sixth consecutive opponent the Dragons have held below 175 - and posted three shutout quarters before the second unit allowed a fourth-quarter score, snapping a streak of 12 shutout quarters. The Dragons outscored their three sectional opponents 140-6 and triggered the running clock in each game. The Dragons move on to next Friday's regional, where they will face Mooresville at Kelso Stadium. The Pioneers defeated Brebeuf 40-39 on a last-second field goal to win Sectional 21. After a punt on their first possession, the Dragons surrendered a pair of first downs on the Marauders' first drive, but they stiffened at midfield and forced a punt. The Dragons then embarked on an 8-play, 86-yard march that began with Grayson Thomas' 16-yard run, was extended by a 14-yard run by Thomas on 3rd-and-14 and finished with a 35-yard pass to a wide-open Kyler Kropp for the score. After a quick three-and-out, the Dragons went to work again. This time, it took just two plays for Gavin Neal to find Kropp in the back of the end zone for a 27-yard score, putting the Dragons up 14-0 in the opening frame. After an exchange of punts, the Dragons held on fourth-and-4 at midfield, setting up a short field. However, the Dragons faced a fourth-and-4 of their own when they direct-snapped the ball to Kropp on a fake punt. He carried around right end for 32 yards to the MV 13. That set up Thomas for a 5-yard TD to extend the edge to 21-0. The Dragons then put the game away in the third quarter. On MV's first possession, Brady Armstrong grabbed a fumble out of midair and took it 55 yard for a touchdown to put the Dragons up 28-0. After the Red Rage forced a three-and-out, Kropp took a wildcat snap around the left side for a 31-yard TD to trigger the running clock. Armstrong intercepted a pass on MV's next drive, setting up a short 30-yard march that ended in Thomas' 3=yard TD run. MV scored on a long pass play, followed by a 17-yard run by Joliba Brogan on the first possession of the fourth quarter, which came against the Dragons' second-unit defense. The Dragons were able to see out the game from there and touch off the celebration. Thomas ran for 116 yards and two touchdowns, eclipsing the 6,000-yard mark for his career. He became the second Dragon to do so. Kropp tallied 147 yards from scrimmage, with 73 and two touchdowns through the air and 74 yards and a score on the ground. The Dragons outgained MV 301-174. Class 4A Sectional 22 final: Dragons 42, Mt. Vernon 6 Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 at Mt. Vernon Stadium, Fortville New Palestine (10-2) 14 - 7 - 21 - 0 -- 42 Mt. Vernon (7-5) 0 - 0 - 0 - 6 -- 6 Scoring summary NP-Kropp 35 pass from Neal (Wells kick), 4:20 NP-Kropp 27 pass from Neal (Wells kick), 2:08 NP-Thomas 5 run (Wells kick), 2:31 NP-Armstrong 55 fumble return (Wells kick), 9:26 NP-Kropp 31 run (Wells kick), 5:45 NP-Thomas 3 run (Wells kick), :00 Team stats First downs: NP 14, MV 10 Rushes-yards: NP 39-228, MV 21-54 Passing C-A-I: NP 5-6-0, MV 10-26-2 Passing yards: NP 73, MV 120 Total plays-yards: NP 45-301, MV 47-174 Penalties-yards: NP 8-85, MV 6-49 Fumbles-lost: NP 1-0, MV 2-1 Punts-avg: NP 2-29.5, MV 4-29.0 Time of possession: NP 27:16, MV 20:44 Individual stats New Palestine Rushing: Thomas 20-116, Kropp 7-74, Caldwell 4-25, Haines 4-10, Neal 4-3 Passing: Neal 5-6-0-73 Receiving: Kropp 3-73, Mitchell 1-2, Rollyson 1-(-2) Mt. Vernon Rushing: Brogan 12-64, Jones 1-3, Joy 1-2, Etherington 7-(-15) Passing: Etherington 10-26-2-120 Receiving: Jones 2-53, Barnett 2-20, Brogan 2-17, Joy 2-16, Edmonds 2-14