New Palestine High School

The Red Rage defense dominated from the opening kickoff Saturday, leading the New Palestine football team to its 16th consecutive Homecoming victory in a 38-0 shutout of Greenfield-Central. The first Saturday Homecoming game in school history - forced because of dangerous winds Friday - saw the Dragons seize command of the game in the third quarter on a rainy day. The 4A No. 1 Dragons improved to 5-0 (4-0 HHC), while the No. 5 Cougars fell to 5-1 (3-1 HHC). The Dragons held Greenfield-Central to just 45 yards of total offense and four first downs - two of which were by penalty and a third came late in the game after the running clock had been started. The Cougars entered the game averaging 330 yards of total offense and 41 points per game. It was the Dragons' first shutout since Oct. 27, 2023 - which was also against Greenfield-Central. The Red Rage stuffed G-C on fourth-and-short on its first two drives - the second ending with a Cameron Rollyson fumble recovery - and found the end zone when Mason Oglesby sacked Cougars quarterback Dallas Freeman and jarred the ball free. Michael Thacker picked it up and ran it in 26 yards for a score, giving the Dragons a 14-0 edge. The defense had to come up big, as the offense was struggling with penalties and finishing drives earlly. The Dragons drove to the G-C 15 on their first possession, but a holding penalty and a bobbled snap put them behind the chains and forced a turnover on downs. But the Dragons stuffed G-C on fourth-and-1 in plus territory, setting up a short 24-yard drive that Josh Ranes finished off with a 6-yard TD. Ranes carried on five of the drive's six plays. The Dragons looked for the dagger when G-C fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Gavin Neal recovered, but they were unable to advance the ball and turned it back over on downs. However, another fourth-down stop near midfield - this one punctuated by Rollyson's fumble recovery - gave the Dragons grate field position again. First-down passes to Oglesby and Austin McMahan moved the Dragons to the G-C 24, but they were stopped on fourth-and-1. However, the Dragons would swing momentum back their way moments later. After an offside penalty gave G-C a first down, the Oglesby-Thacker sack-fumble-touchdown put NP up 14-0. The Dragons again held a three-and-out and drove to the G-C 28, but were again stopped on fourth-and-1 on a drive where G-C penalties negated a Dragons fumble and a sack. After another G-C punt, the Dragons took over on their own 18 with 1:17 left. Aided by Ranes' 34-yard run, they drove into the red zone, where Jake Wells drilled a 31-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first half. That put the Dragons up 17-0, despite an uneven offensive first half that featured three drives stall in plus territory and saw the Dragons flagged for six penalties. The second half was more efficient, as the Dragons scored on three of their four possessions, while forcing three-and-outs on each of the Cougars' first three drives, and stopping them on fourth down on the fourth. On their first possession, McMahan reeled in a 22-yard TD on fourth-and-1 to extend the lead to 24-0. Dragons mixed run and pass on their next drive, which ended with an 8-yard TD run by Ranes. Fifteen-yard completions to McMahan and Rollyson moved the Dragons to the red zone. The Dragons' next possession ended in a fumble, but they quickly got the ball back and Caden Jacobia carried much of the way on a 64-yard drive, which he punctuated with an 11-yard TD run. The Dragons gained 362 yards, with 245 coming on the ground. Ranes ran for 183 yards, moving his season total to 890. Davis threw for 117 yards, completing passes to four different receivers. The victory extended the Dragons' winning streak over G-C to 16 games dating to 2011. It is the longest active winning streak against an opponent for the Dragons. The Dragons hit the road next week for a trip to Shelbyville. Week 6: Dragons 38, Greenfield-Central 0 Saturday, September 28 at Kelso Stadium Greenfield-Central (5-1, 3-1) 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 New Palestine (5-0, 4-0) 7 - 10 - 14 - 7 -- 38 Scoring summary NP-Jos.Ranes 6 run (Wells kick), 4:08 NP-Thacker 26 fumble return (Wells kick), 6:57 NP-Wells 31 FG, :01 NP-McMahan 22 pass from Davis (Wells kick), 9:04 NP-Jos.Ranes 8 run (Wells kick), 3:30 NP-Ca.Jacobia 11 run (Wells kick), 6:21 Team stats First downs: G-C 4, NP 18 Rushes-yards: G-C 32-36, NP 44-244 Passing C-A-I: G-C 3-10-0, NP 11-17-0 Passing yards: G-C 9, NP 117 Total plays-yards: G-C 42-45, NP 61-361 Penalties-yards: G-C 8-75, NP 11-90 Fumbles-lost: G-C 4-3, NP 2-1 Punts-avg: G-C 6-31.3, NP 0-0 Time of possession: G-C 22:13, NP 25:47 Individual stats Greenfield-Central Rushing: Br.Willard 3-17, Hinton 5-15, Benavente 11-7, T. Smith 2-0, VanOsdol 1-0, Freeman 10(-3) Passing: Freeman 3-10-0-9 Receiving: Bo.Willard 1-5, Hinton 1-5, T.Smith 1-(-1) New Palestine Rushing: Jos.Ranes 24-183, Ca.Jacobia 7-45, Davis 9-14, Neal 3-3, team 1-(-1) Passing: Davis 11-17-0-117 Receiving: Oglesby 5-41, McMahan 4-54, Rollyson 1-15, Wasson 1-7