New Palestine High School

The New Palestine football team took just six plays and 102 seconds to strike Friday night at Mt. Vernon. Then, they delivered the knockout punch quickly, scoring 28 first-quarter points en route to a 56-8 victory over the host Marauders. The Dragons retained possession of the Boundary Rail for the third consecutive season and for the 17th time in 20 years, improving to 40-24-1 all-time against their oldest and fiercest rival. Quarterback Jacob Davis threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Josh Ranes ran for 119 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Dragons to a 414-yard day. The Red Rage was also stout, holding MV's rushing attack to 13 yards in the first half, when the first-unit defense yielded to the second unit. MV tallied 119 total yards, and the Marauders' top running back, Joliba Brogan, was held to 70 yards rushing. The Dragons also forced four turnovers, turning three of them into scores. The Dragons had to convert a third-and-long on the game's first series, which Davis did with a swing pass to Cameron Rollyson that carried for 12 yards. Three plays later, Davis dropped back and found Eli Wasson wide open downfield. Wasson reeled in the pass and carried the ball the rest of the way for a 64-yard touchdown. Then, the game quickly turned. The Red Rage forced a three-and-out, and a 25-yard punt return by Rollyson set the Dragons up at the MV 28. Ranes' 23-yard reception set up his 8-yard TD run to put the Dragons up 14-0. A stop by Caden Jacobia on fourth down when MV went for it inside its own 25 set up another short field, and Ranes' 16-yard TD run followed. On the ensuing kickoff, MV muffed a short kickoff. The Dragons' Desmond Palmer recovered, and Davis found Austin McMahan for a 27-yard TD on the next play, giving NP two scores in 10 seconds and a 28-0 lead with 5:23 left in the first quarter. The Dragons kept adding on in the second quarter, with the Red Rage again stopping MV twice on downs, forcing two punts and two more turnovers - a fumble recovery by Caden Jacobia and an interception by Connor Jacobia. Offensively, Davis hit McMahan for a 58-yard TD and Ranes had touchdown runs of 28 and 2 yards, giving the Dragons a 49-0 lead at halftime. MV again muffed a short kickoff to start the second half, setting up another short field for the Dragons, which Davis capped with an 8-yard TD run. From there, the Dragons yielded to the second unit. MV scored a late touchdown to break the shutout, but the Dragons rolled to the victory. The Dragons have used explosive plays a lot this season. Of their 21 touchdowns, 12 have come on plays of 20 or more yards, including four in Friday's victory. Friday marked the first time since November 2022 the Dragons scored 40 points in a half. The Class 4A No. 1 Dragons are now 3-0 (2-0 HHC) headed into next week's game at Pendleton Heights. MV falls to 0-4 (0-2 HHC). Week 4: Dragons 56, Mt. Vernon 8 Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 at Mt. Vernon Stadium, Fortville New Palestine (3-0, 2-0) 28 - 21 - 7 - 0 -- 56 Mt. Vernon (0-4, 0-3) 0 - 0 - 0 - 8 -- 8 Scoring summary NP-Wasson 64 pass from Davis (Wells kick), 10:18 NP-Jos.Ranes 8 run (Wells kick), 7:51 NP-Jos.Ranes 16 run (pass failed), 5:33 NP-McMahan 27 pass from Davis (Wasson pass from Davis), 5:23 NP-McMahan 58 pass from Davis (Wells kick), 10:20 NP-Jos.Ranes 21 run (Wells kick), 3:13 NP-Jos.Ranes 2 run (Wells kick), :46 NP-Davis 8 run (Walker kick), 7:22 MV-Brogan 3 run (Johnson pass from Meyer), 10:08 Team stats FIrst downs: NP 14, MV 5 Rushes-yards: NP 26-176, MV 27-68 Passing C-A-I: NP 12-18-0, MV 7-18-1 Passing yards: NP 240, MV 42 Total plays-yards: NP 44-416, MV 45-110 Penalties-yards: NP 7-65, MV 8-50 Fumbles-lost: NP 0-0, MV 3-3 Punts-avg: NP 2-41.0, MV 3-33.0 Time of possession: NP 22:13, MV 25:47 Individual stats New Palestine Rushing: Jos.Ranes 13-119, Davis 5-28, Wiegand 2-28, Gardner 2-6, Wadman 1-0, Ca.Jacobia 1-(-2), Hubbard 1-(-2), team 1-(-1) Passing: Davis 12-18-0-240 Receiving: Oglesby 4-24, McMahan 3-93, Rollyson 3-34, Wasson 1-66, Jos.Ranes 1-23 Mt. Vernon Rushing: Brogan 20-70, Johnson 3-9, Meyer 4-(-11) Passing: Meyer 7-18-1-42 Receiving: Johnson 4-23, Joy 3-19