New Palestine High School

For years, New Palestine football victories have often included an overwhelming turn of the scoreboard, yielding a quick avalanche of points that puts a team away. The Dragons waited until the fourth quarter to put forth their best of the season, scoring 27 fourth-quarter points to beat Mooresville 39-6 and clinch the program's eighth regional championship and sixth in 11 seasons. Grayson Thomas scored five touchdowns and Malachi Haines added an exclamation point in the fourth quarter, while the Red Rage defense was again suffocating, not allowing a high-powered Mooresville offense to find the end zone. The third-ranked Dragons (11-2) advance to face No. 1 East Central (13-0) in next week's semistate, which will be at East Central. The winner will meet either NorthWood or Leo in the State Finals at Lucas Oil Stadium. It took a while for the teams to get going offensively. Brady Armstrong's interception thwarted Mooresville's econd possession, but the Dragons turned it right back over on a sack-fumble. The Pioneers drove inside the 10, but were forced to kick a 24-yard field goal to take an early lead. The Dragons responded with a grinding 15-play, 71-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock and ended with Thomas' 4-yard run. The Dragons mixed run and pass well on the drive, with quarterback Gavin Neal completing 4-of-6 on the march, with Kyler Kropp and Ty Mitchell each catching two passes. Mitchell had a 12-yard gain on third-and-7 near midfield to keep the drive alive, then Kropp reeled in a 10-yarder on fourth-and-7 to take the ball to the 16. Thomas carried it the rest of the way. The teams exchanged punts before the Red Rage struck again. With the Pioneers facing third down near midfield, Garrett Ranes punched the ball free from scrambling quarterback Hogan Denny. Michael Thacker pounced on the loose ball to put the Dragons on the Mooresville 41. Three plays later, Thomas scampered up the left sideline for a 33-yard TD that put the Dragons up 12-3. Mooresville responded with a field goal at the first-half gun to cut the Dragons' lead to six. The Pioneers had an opportunity to take the lead after forcing a punt on NP's first drive of the second half, then marching 16 plays to the Dragons' 22. However, three straight incomplete passes and a penalty turned the ball over to the Dragons on downs, and that would be the Pioneers' last gasp. The Dragons responded to that turnover on downs with a nine-play, 73-yard drive. The key play came with the Dragons facing third-and-13 and still nursing a six-point lead. Neal found Mitchell open behind the defense for a 37-yard completion to the Mooresville 39. After an 8-yard run by Neal, Thomas carried it the rest of the way, setting up his 2-yard TD run with a 19-yard scamper. The TD gave the Dragons some breathing room, as they went up 18-6. Mooresville then tried some trickery on the ensuing kickoff, but a lateral between the returners was fumbled and Mason Oglesby fell on it. Two plays later, Thomas punched it in from the 6, giving the Dragons a 25-6 edge and two touchdowns in 40 seconds. The Red Rage forced a turnover on downs with two sacks on the possession, setting up a short field and a 1-yard plunge by Thomas with 6:23 left. An interception by Desmond Palmer snuffed out the Pioneers' next drive, and with the Dragons trying to run out the clock, Haines took a handoff up the left sideline for a 52-yard TD to cap the scoring. Thomas ran for 137 yards and a career-high-tying five TDs. He now has 92 touchdowns and 6,157 yards on his career. Neal added 127 yards of total offense. The Red Rage added four takeaways in the victory and held yet another team out of the end zone. In the IHSAA tournament, the Dragons have outscored their opponents 179-13. IHSAA Class 4A Regional: Dragons 39, Mooresville 6 Friday, Nov. 10 at Kelso Stadium, New Palestine Mooresville (7-6) 3 - 3 - 0 - 0 -- 6 New Palestine (11-2) 0 - 12 - 0 - 27 -- 39 Scoring summary M-Church 24 FG, 3:16 NP-Thomas 4 run (kick blocked), 8:33 NP-Thomas 33 run (pass failed), :43 M-Church 39 FG, :00 NP-Thomas 2 run (pass failed), 11:09 NP-Thomas 6 run (Wells kick), 10:29 NP-Thomas 1 run (Wells kick), 6:23 NP-Haines 52 run (Wells kick), 3:16 Team stats First downs: M 15, NP 12 Rushes-yards: M 28-121, NP 43-220 Passing C-A-I: M 10-31-2, NP 7-12-0 Passing yards: M 81, NP 99 Total plays-yards: M 59-202, NP 55-319 Fumbles-lost: M 3-2, NP 2-1 Penalties-yards: M 7-65, NP 4-40 Punts-avg: M 1-48.0, NP 3-34.0 Time of possession: M 23:15, NP 24:45 Individual stats Mooresville Rushing: Clements 16-85, Bruhn 2-25, H.Denny 9-11, Korthuis 1-0 Passing: H.Denny 10-29-2-81, Smith 0-2 Receiving: T.Denny 3-13, Dorn 2-26, Bruhn 2-20, Bennett 2-15, Clements 1-7 New Palestine Rushing: Thomas 29-137, Haines 3-60, Neal 8-28, team 3-(-5) Passing: Neal 7-12-0-99 Receiving: Mitchell 3-53, Kropp 3-32, Rollyson 1-14