New Palestine High School

The New Palestine football team returns to Kelso Stadium for Senior Night vs. Delta. Delta Eagles (4-4, 2-4 HHC) at 4A No. 1/1 New Palestine Dragons (7-0, 6-0 HHC) Time: 7:30 p.m. Friday Location: Kelso Stadium Tickets: $6 at gate or online at https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=96892 Audio: NewPalRadio.com Video: IHSAAtv.org/NewPalestine ($) SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons honor their 15 seniors this evening as they play their final home game of the 2024 regular season against Delta. The Dragons hold a 16-15 lead in the all-time series, including 11 straight victories dating to 2013. NP has won 14 of the 15 meetings since 2010. Last year, the Dragons won a 38-7 decision over the Eagles in Week 9. The Dragons are ranked No. 1 in both polls for the ninth consecutive week. This is the 29th consecutive poll week in which the Dragons are ranked. The Dragons are 80-2 in HHC games since 2013 and have won 25 consecutive conference games. The Dragons are looking to cap the 13th undefeated regular season in school history and their ninth in 12 seasons under coach Kyle Ralph, joining 2013-19 and 2022. NP also went unbeaten in the regular season in 1983, 1984, 1988 and 2011. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons clinched the outright HHC championship last week, their third consecutive outright HHC title, their 10th in 12 years and their 12th in the last 15 years. The Dragons have won 14 HHC titles, all since 2005. Thirteen have been outright. They have 24 overall conference titles in the program’s 57-year history. This will be the Dragons’ first Friday night home game to be played to its completion since Aug. 23’s season opener. The Week 2 game against Decatur Central was ruled a no contest due to persistent lightning in the area, while the Week 6 game against Greenfield-Central was moved to Saturday due to dangerous winds. The Dragons have been dominant on defense all season, but especially the last three weeks, in which they’ve held three consecutive opponents to fewer than 100 total yards. They held Greenfield-Central to 45 yards in Week 6, Shelbyville to 43 in Week 7 and New Castle to 81 yards last week. In those three games, the Dragons have allowed 43 total rushing yards. The Dragons were efficient last week against New Castle, with the top-unit offense scoring on seven of its eight possessions. RB Josh Ranes posted his seventh straight 100-yard game with 137 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Ranes now has 1,166 yards and 19 rushing TDs on the season. Ranes needs 90 yards to move into the top 15 on the NP single-season rushing list. QB Jacob Davis was 10-of-15 for 138 yards and two scores against New Castle. He now has 1,238 passing yards this season, 19th on the NPHS single-season passing list. His top receiver last week was Cam Rollyson, who had a career-high 69 yards on five catches. Two freshmen made big impacts last week. Sam Hirschy caught a 25-yard TD pass on his first career varsity catch. Evan Walker had a fourth-down sack. The Dragons are plus-13 in turnover ratio, with 16 takeaways. The Dragons have forced a running clock in six consecutive games. SCOUTING THE EAGLES Delta is 4-4, having dropped four of its last five games. The lone victory in that stretch was a solid 27-26 victory over Pendleton Heights. Delta has a veteran team, led by QB Bronson Edwards, who is completing 53% of his passes for 952 yards, while also rushing for 275 yards. Nolan Carpenter (596 yards, 5 TDs) leads a balanced running game. Zane Cline (322 yards, 4 TDs) and Amir Wright-Hill (241 yards, 2 TDs) are the Eagles’ top receivers. Defensively, Nash Keesling is among the HHC leaders with seven sacks. Last week, Edwards threw for 93 yards - 47 to Cline - in a loss to Greenfield-Central. LOOKING AHEAD The Dragons open sectional play next Friday at home against Mt. Vernon. The winner will face either Yorktown or Richmond in the semifinal round. FOLLOW US All New Palestine games are broadcast free-to-listen at NewPalRadio.com. All home games are also video streamed at IHSAAtv.org on a pay-per-view basis. NPHS Athletics is on Facebook and Instagram (@NewPalestineDragons), Twitter (@NPHSDragons) and online (NewPalestineAthletics.com). Photo credit: Aaron Smith