New Palestine High School

In a matchup of teams ranked in the top two of their respective classes, the New Palestine football team expected another strong test headed into conference play. The Dragons raced out to an early lead and never looked back in a 49-0 rout of Decatur Central. Grayson Thomas ran for 173 yards and three touchdowns on just 12 carries. Quarterback Danny Tippit completed 9-of-12 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns, spreading the ball around to six different receivers. They Eian Roudebush added a 44-yard interception return for a touchdown, while the Red Rage smothered the Hawks' offense. The Class 4A No. 1/2 Dragons are now 2-0, having defeated two top-five teams in larger classes in their last two games. The Dragons took command just 89 seconds into the game, as Thomas broke a 51-yard run down the right sideline for a touchdown, as he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and spun out of another tackle on the sideline at the 40 before outracing the Hawks to the goal line. After the two teams traded three-and-outs, DC used a 30-yard pass to drive to the Dragons' 8-yard line. Two penalties sent the Hawks backward, but a strong pass rush forced Hawks' QB Bo Polston to throw off his back foot. Senior LB A.J. Reierson picked off the pass, ending the Hawks' best threat of the night. That kept the Dragons' lead at 7-0 and turned the tables in the game, stunting the Hawks' momentum and allowing the Dragons to flip the scoreboard quickly. A 35-yard pass to Kyler Kropp, with a 12-yard penalty added on, set the Dragons up at the Hawks' 12. Two plays later, Tippit hit Isaiah Thacker on a screen pass for a 10-yard touchdown to put the Dragons up 14-0 with 3:19 left in the opening quarter. The Dragons forced back-to-back punts. Four plays after the first punt, Thomas took the ball down the left sideline for a 44-yard touchdown to put the Dragons up 20-0 on the first play of the second quarter. After the second, the Dragons took over at their own 7, but took just five plays and 82 seconds to go 93 yards, with a 22-yard pass to Blaine Nunnally setting the Dragons up at midfield. Tippit then hit Eli Hook over the middle for a 51-yard TD pass. Isaiah Thacker's two-point conversion run pushed the lead to 28-0. It was Hook's first career touchdown reception. DC drove to the Dragons' 22 but turned the ball over on downs. That led to a 10-play, 77-yard march that ended with Thomas' 24-yard TD run, where he cut back from the sideline and angled his way into the end zone, pushing the lead to 35-0 with 1:03 left in the half and triggering a running clock after halftime. The Dragons added on in the third quarter. On DC's first possession, Roudebush intercepted a pass and ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown, the Dragons' first defensive score since Sept. 3, 2021, when Blaine Nunnally had a pick-6 against Yorktown. Brady Armstrong added a fourth-quarter touchdown run. The Dragons gained 439 yards of total offense, including 262 on the ground. They scored touchdowns on six of their seven offensive possessions, and have scores on 12 of their 15 possessions this season. The Red Rage held DC to 62 yards rushing and 205 yards of total offense. The shutout was the Dragons' first since beating Shelbyville 52-0 Oct. 1, 2021. It was the 23rd shutout in coach Kyle Ralph's 10-year tenure. Thomas' 173-yard game moves his career total to 2,749 yards. He needs 251 yards to become the fifth back in NPHS history to reach the 3,000-yard mark for his career. Friday was his 14th career 100-yard game and the fifth-highest rushing total of his career. The Dragons open conference play next week at Yorktown. Week 2: New Palestine 49, Decatur Central 0 Friday, Aug. 26, 2022 at Kelso Stadium, New Palestine Decatur Central (1-1). 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 New Palestine (2-0). 14 - 21 - 7 - 7 -- 49 Scoring summary NP-Thomas 51 run (Tanksley kick), 10:31 NP-I.Thacker 10 pass from Tippit (Tanksley kick), 3:19 NP-Thomas 44 run (run failed), 11:52 NP-Hook 51 pass from Tippit (I.Thacker run), 6:51 NP-Thomas 24 run (Tanksley kick), 1:03 NP-Roudebush 40 interception return (Tanksley kick), 9:28 NP-Armstrong 11 run (Tanksley kick), 7:20 Team stats First downs: DC 10, NP 18 Rushes-yards: DC 25-62, NP 23-261 Passing C-A-I: DC 9-28-3, NP 9-12-0 Passing yards: DC 141, NP 178 Total plays-yards: DC 53-203, NP 35-439 Fumbles-lost: DC 0-0, NP 0-0 Punts-avg: DC 3-39.3, NP 1-28.0 Time of possession: DC 31:19, NP 16:41 Individual stats Decatur Central Rushing: Polston 7-23, Newkirk 2-8, Cox 5-7, Berry 1-1, Stevens 1-1, LaFollette 1-0, Shanks 4-14, Fowler 3-9, Dodo 1-(-1) Passing: Polston 9-27-2-141, Stevens 0-1-1-0 Receiving: LaFollette 2-36, Calahan 2-28, Carter 2-23, Coleman 2-23, Berry 1-31 New Palestine Rushing: Thomas 12-173, Kropp 2-13, Bl.Nunnally 1-9, Tippit 2-0, Armstrong 3-33, D.Thacker 3-33 Passing: Tippit 9-12-0-178 Receiving: Kropp 2-54, Bl.Nunnally 2-34, Mitchell 2-20, Hook 1-51, I.Thacker 1-10, Thomas 1-9