New Palestine High School

The New Palestine football team welcomed one of the nation's top teams to Kelso Stadium Friday night, and hung with the IMG Academy Ascenders for much of the first half, but IMG's depth and speed won out as the game wore on, and pulled away to a 49-7 victory over the Dragons. NP fell to 5-3 on the season headed into next week's Senior Night finale against Delta. The Dragons had a strong start. After IMG scored on a 12-play drive on the game's opening possession, the Dragons held the Ascenders out of the end zone on their next two - Brady Lantz stopped one drive with an interception inside the 10. After an IMG pick, the Dragons defense stiffened and forced a field goal attempt, which was missed. The Dragons then got on the front foot offensively, going 80 yards in 17 plays. Logan Parks had runs of 13 and 7 yards, and Rhys Ragan completed five straight pases, including a 14-yarder to Mason Oglesby to bring the Dragons into scoring range. On fourth down, Ragan hit Oglesby for a 4-yard TD to tie the game at 7-7 midway through the second quarter. The Dragons nearly executed an on-side kick, but touched the ball one yard shy of 10 yards, giving IMG the ball at midfield. The Ascenders took three plays to score, as quarterback Jayden Wade - the No. 1 QB in the junior class nationally - hit Quincy Gilmer for an 18-yard TD with 1:26 left in the half after a 19-yard scramble by Wade. A penalty on the Dragons forced them to start inside their own 10, and they went three-and-out, giving IMG good field position. The Ascenders scored on a 36-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left in the half to go up 28-7. In the second half, IMG scored on its first three possessions. The Dragons drove to the Ascenders' 10 on their final drive, as Ragan completed three straight passes to Oglesby and Ryder Gardner, and Kade Stephens mixed in several strong runs, but a fumble inside the 10 prevented another scoring opportunity. Stephens led the Dragons with 60 rushing yards. Ragan threw for 108 yards, completing six passes to Oglesby for 38 yards. Landon Maddox had 39 receiving yards and Gardner 37. Week 8: IMG Academy 49, Dragons 7 Friday, Oct. 9, 2026 at Kelso Stadium IMG Academy (7-0) 7 - 21 - 14 - 7 -- 49 New Palestine (5-3) 0 - 7 - 0 - 0 -- 14 Scoring summary IMG-Schwalger 3 pass from Wade (Brien kick), 6:05 NP-Oglesby 5 pass from Ragan (Walker kick), 7:17 IMG-Gilmer 18 pass from Wade (Brien kick), 6:42 IMG-Newman-Hall 10 run (Brien kick), 1:26 IMG-Gorham 36 pass from Wade (Brien kick), :11 IMG-Smith 26 pass from Wade (Brien kick), 10:08 IMG-Gayles 35 pass from Wade (Brien kick), 8:36 IMG-Whitfield 8 pass from Cone (Brien kick), 10:37 Team stats First downs: IMG 24, NP 17 Rushes-yards: IMG 26-188, NP 34-112 Passing C-A-I: IMG 23-27-1, NP 13-27-2 Passing yards: IMG 321, NP 116 Total plays-yards: IMG 53-509, NP 61-228 Fumbles-lost: IMG 1-0, NP 1-1 Penalties-yards: IMG 15-143, NP 2-16 Punts-avg: IMG 0-0, NP 3-34.0 TIme of possession: IMG 21:37, NP 26:23 Individual stats IMG Academy Rushing: Newman-Hall 9-77, Wade 7-59, Smith 7-38, Cone 2-16, team 1-(-2) Passing: Wade 22-26-1-308, Cone 1-1-0-13 Receiving: Gayles 8-110, Smith 5-67, Gilmer 4-48, Miller 4-44, Gorham 1-36, Whitfield 1-13, Schwalger 1-3 New Palestine Rushing: Stephens 21-60, Parks 10-45, Ragan 3-7 Passing: Ragan 12-26-2-108, Walker 1-1-0-8 Receiving: Oglesby 6-29, Maddox 3-39, Gardner 3-37, Stephens 1-11