New Palestine High School

From the moment the ball was kicked, the New Palestine football team was in control Friday at New Castle. NP’s Isaiah Thacker took the opening kickoff back 75 yards for a touchdown, kick-starting a 63-12 romp for Class 4A’’s top-ranked team over the host Trojans. Thacker tallied 115 receiving yards and two touchdowns, Grayson Thomas ran for 98 yards and three scores on 10 carries and quarterback Danny Tippit tallied 222 yards of total offense in the victory. All played only one half, as the Dragons rolled up a 63-6 halftime lead and played the second unit in the running-clock second half. “That’s the continued thing with us is our growth,” NP coach Kyle Ralph said. “Sometimes, it can be hard to focus when you realize you might be a little better, but you have to respect the opponent, prepare that way and play that way. Those are things we struggled with early in the season. Tonight was a good effort across the board for us." The Dragons scored in all three phases. In addition to seven offensive scores and Thacker’s kickoff return, Blaine Nunnally had a 19-yard interception return for a score - the Dragons’ third pick-6 of the season - touching off a wild sequence in which the teams combined for 20 points in 38 seconds. That was answered by a 93-yard kickoff return for a score by NC’s Tylin Thrine. On the Dragons’ next play, Tippit scampered in from 49 yards out to give the Dragons a 56-6 lead. The Dragons scored 28 points in the opening frame, following Thacker’s kickoff return with back-to-back TDs by Thomas and a 2-yard pass to Thacker. The Dragons nearly had a fourth after Eian Roudebush’s interception set them up on the New Castle 16, but stalled on downs. The Dragons snapped the ball 11more times in the first half and scored 35 points - with Tippit an Thomas opening the frame with TD runs to cap short drives. The Dragons gained 320 yards on 36 plays in the opening half, scoring on seven of their eight possessions. “They’ve played great defense the whole year.” Ralph said of New Castle. “I’m really surprised by our efficiency because they have slowed down just about everybody this year. For us to do that in this half, that was a great half of football.” In addition to Nunnally’s pick-6, the Dragons’ top-unit defense held New Castle to three yards, sacking quarterback Quintin Boatright four times and intercepting him three. Daniel Thacker also had a pick, his fourth of the year. The Dragons have clinched at least a share of the program’s 12th Hoosier Heritage Conference title and 22nd overall conference title. They can clinch it outright with a victory over Delta on the Dragons’ Senior Night at Kelso Stadium next week. NOTES: Isaiah Thacker's kick return for a TD was the second of his career. The first came in last year's sectional semifinal win over Franklin. ... Thacker tallied the fourth 100-yard receiving game of his career. ... Grayson Thomas scored his 52nd career touchdown, tying him with Jeff Miles for third place on the NPHS career rushing touchdowns list. ... Thomas also crossed 3,500 career rushing yards. He now has 3,511 yards and is in third place on the NPHS career rushing list. ... Thacker now has 1,302 career receiving yards at New Palestine, moving him into fifth place on the NPHS career receiving yards list. He needs 26 yards to catch Blake Austin for fourth place. ... With 146 passing yards, Tippit now has 1,642 for the season, putting him in seventh place on the NPHS single-season passing yardage list. ... The 63 points were the most scored in a half since Oct. 12, 2018 against Delta. The 35-point second quarter was the first 30+-point quarter since Oct. 4, 2019 against Shelbyville. ... Nunnally's pick-6 was the second of his career. ... Michael Thacker blocked a punt. It was the Dragons' fifth blocked punt this season. Week 8: New Palestine 63, New Castle 12 Friday, Oct. 7, 2022 at Neal Field, New Castle New Palestine (8-0, 6-0 HHC). 28 - 35 - 0 - 0 -- 63 New Castle (2-6, 1-5 HHC). 0 - 6 - 6 - 0 -- 12 Scoring summary NP–I.Thacker 75 kickoff return (Tanksley kick), 11:47 NP–Thomas 8 run (Tanksley kick), 9:17 NP–Thomas 9 run (Tanksley kick), 5:37 NP–I.Thacker 2 pass from Tippit (Tanksley kick), 2:45 NP–Tippit 10 run (Tanksley kick), 11:12 NP–Thomas 2 run (Tanksley kick), 6:43 NP–Bl. Nunnally 19 interception return (Tanksley kick), 5:38 NC–T.Thrine 93 kickoff return (kick blocked), 5:21 NP–TIppit 49 run (Tanksley kick), 5:00 NP–I.Thacker 22 pass from Tippit (Tanksley kick), 2:24 NC–B.Thrine 14 run (run failed), :00 Team stats First downs: NP 13, NC 8 Rushes-yards: NP 26-185, NC 31-79 Passing C-A-I: NP 11-20-0, NC 4-20-3 Passing yards: NP 146, NC 41 Total plays-yards: NP 46-331, NC 51-120 Fumbles-lost: NP 0-0, NC 2-0 Punts-avg: NP 2-28.5, NC 4-23.8 Penalties-yards: NP 4-50, NC 4-22 Time of possession: NP 19:19, NC 28:41 Individual stats New Palestine Rushing: Thomas 10-98, Tippit 7-76, Neal 6-11, Doss 2-4, McMahan 1-(-4) Passing: Tippit 11-19-0-146, Neal 0-1-0-0 Receiving: I.Thacker 5-115, Mitchell 3-20, Thomas 1-7, Kropp 1-6, Bl.Nunnally 1-(-2) New Castle Rushing: Eberhart 16-59, B.Thrine 3-14, Hannan 1-3, Boatright 8-2, T.Thrine 1-2, Bradley 2-(-1) Passing: Boatright 4-20-3-41 Receiving: Frazier 2-17, Bulmer 1-21, T.Thrine 1-3