New Palestine High School

The New Palestine senior class shone Friday night in a Hoosier Heritage Conference championship-clinching victory, as they combined for nine touchdowns in a 63-7 Dragons football victory over visiting Delta. The Dragons scored 21 first-quarter points - all on touchdown runs by Kade Stephens - and kept adding on, combining a defense that produced four takeaways with an offense that totaled 466 yards and nine touchdowns. Stephens scored four rushing touchdowns and ran for a career-high 131 yards, while quarterback Rhys Ragan threw for 223 yards and four scores - one to each of the Dragons' senior wideouts - in the victory. The Dragons wasted little time, forcing a punt on Delta's first possession, and then romping 47 yards on three Stephens runs - the last a 14-yard TD - to take a quick 6-0 lead. Waynee Estes then recovered a fumble, but the Dragons turned it back over to Delta, only to get it back on an interception by Brayden Newsom. His return set up Stephens' second TD. Another interception by Newsom - this time after Delta had driven into plus territory - led to a Dragon TD. A 38-yard pass to Landon Maddox and a 14-yarder to Mason Oglesby set up Stephens' third score, an 8-yard TD run, giving the Dragons a 21-0 lead after one. After a Delta punt, Ragan's fourth-down scramble kept a possession alive, and two plays later, Stephens broke free for a 29-yard TD, his fourth of the day. Deakin Gibson then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. A 19-yard run by Stephens set up Ragan's first TD - an 8-yarder to Cael Butler - to push the lead to 34-0. Delta scored after a Dragons turnover late in the half, but NP held a 34-7 lead at the break. They added on in the second half. Ragan hit Ryder Gardner for a 24-yard TD on the Dragons' first possession to push the lead to 40-7. After a turnover on downs in Dragons territory, Ragan completed back-to-back passes to Mason Oglesby for 36 yards and a score to trigger the running clock. The Dragons weren't done. An 18-yard pitch to Maddox madeit a 54-7 game in the closing seconds of the third quarter. A drive inside the Delta 5 stalled, but the Red Rage forced a safety on the next play, and Karter Kropp broke a 50-yard TD on the first play after the free kick. The Dragons clinched their 26th conference championship - and their 16th HHC title since 2005. They will take a 6-3 record into the sectional, which begins Oct. 30 at Pendleton Heights. The 63 points were a season-best, and the most since tallying 70 Oct. 10, 2025 against New Castle. Week 9: Dragons 63, Delta 7 Friday, Oct. 16, 2026 at Kelso Stadium Delta (4-5, 2-3) 0 - 7 - 0 - 0 -- 7 New Palestine (6-3, 5-0) 21 - 13 - 20 - 9 -- 63 Scoring summary NP-Stephens 14 run (kick failed), 9:10 NP-Stephens 3 run (Stephens run), 6:07 NP-Stephens 8 run (Walker kick), :33 NP-Stephens 29 run (Eakin kick), 8:41 NP-Butler 8 pass from Ragan (Eakin kick), 7:55 D-Jackson 4 pass from Blevins (Vanator kick), 3:11 NP-Gardner 24 pass from Ragan (pass failed), 9:34 NP-Oglesby 15 pass from Ragan (Eakin kick), 5:43 NP-Maddox 18 pass from Ragan (Eakin kick), :10 NP-Safety, Craig tackled in end zone, 5:48 NP-Kropp 50 run (Eakin kick), 4:16 Team stats First downs: D 8, NP 21 Rushes-yards: D 29-41, NP 28-243 Passing C-A-I: D 15-24-2, NP 16-22-0 Passing yards: D 99, NP 223 Total plays-yards: D 53-140, NP 50-466 Fumbles-lost: D 2-2, NP 2-2 Penalties-yards: D 2-15, NP 1-5 Punts-avg: D 5-29.2, NP 1-51.0 Time of possession: D 28:29, NP 19:31 Individual stats Delta Rushing: Thomas 11-44, Clawson 1-15, Taylor 2-7, Howard 3-5, Craig 4-1, Lynch 1-1, Wilson 2-(-1), Lee 1-(-2), Blevins 3-(-27) Passing: Blevins 15-24-2-99 Receiving: Jackson 5-42, Lynch 5-24, Thomas 2-28, Furney 1-6, Wilson 1-0, Clawson 1-(-1) New Palestine Rushing: Stephens 12-131, Kropp 6-64, Turk 5-52, Ragan 5-(-14) Passing: Ragan 16-22-0-223 Receiving: Oglesby 5-62, Maddox 4-78, Gardner 4-49, Butler 3-34