New Palestine High School

The New Palestine football team has accomplished a lot in its history, but never had it won four consecutive sectional titles. Until now. The Dragons took control from the opening kickoff, scored on the opening drive for the fifth straight week, flipped the scoreboard quickly in the second quarter and rolled to a 41-7 victory over Pendleton Heights in Friday's Class 4A Sectional 21 title game. The No. 1 Dragons (11-0) advance to the regional, where they will visit No. 3 Chatard (9-2), a 28-24 victor over Roncalli. Five of the Dragons' six touchdowns came from beyond 20 yards, and three from beyond 40 yards, in the victory. The Dragons gained 458 yards of total offense - including 354 on the ground - in just 40 offensive plays. Josh Ranes ran for 134 yards and a touchdown, while Caden Jacobia ran for two scores. Jacob Davis amassed 120 yards of total offense and scored a touchdown both rushing and passing. A 50-yard return on the opening kickoff by Max Wiegand set the tone, putting the Dragons in Arabians territory right away. The Dragons had to convert a fourth-and-3 - which they did with a 5-yard run by Josh Ranes - and then scored on the next play when Davis took a quarterback keeper around right end for 28 yards. PH answered with a drive to the Dragons' 22, but NP stuffed the Arabians on 4th-and-1. After an exchange of punts, the Dragons put the game away in the second quarter. Taking over at their own 43, the Dragons overcame a holding penalty to move the ball to the PH 40, where Davis hit a wide-open Austin McMahan on a deep post for a touchdown to put NP up 14-0 in the second. Then, the scoreboard flipped quickly. Caden Jacobia intercepted a pass at the PH 43, and then stayed in on offense. On the next play - his first offensive snap of the night - Jacobia swept to the left and rambled for a touchdown, giving the Dragons two scores in 1:59 and a 21-0 edge. A short punt set the Dragons up inside the PH 30, but a fumble thwarted the scoring effort. However, the Dragons weren't finished. A 57-yard punt pinned them on their own 11 with 1:19 left in the half. There, Ranes took a handoff and blasted past the Arabians, outrunning them for an 89-yard touchdown - the Dragons' longest rushing touchdown since a 90-yard run by DuRon Ford against PH in 2016. Suddenly, with 21 points in just over six minutes, the Dragons led 28-0 and were well on their way to a sectional title. The Red Rage did have to make one last stop, as a 28-yard pass play moved the Arabians to the Dragons' 26 in the final minute of the half, but three straight incompletions and an interception by Aalijah Lissade ended the threat. The Red Rage set the tone in the second half. On PH's second play, Michael Thacker recovered a fumble. Two plays and 19 yards later, Jacobia scampered in for his second TD of the night, triggering the running clock. PH scored against a Dragons defense that had a lot of second-unit players, but the Dragons ground out a long drive led by Wiegand, who ran for 61 yards on an 86-yard drive. On the game's final play, he broke two tackles and raced into the end zone for his first score of the year. It also clinched his first career 100-yard game. The Dragons clinched the 15th sectional title in school history, and their ninth in 12 years under coach Kyle Ralph's tutelage. Sectional 21 championship: Dragons 41, Pendleton Heights 7 Friday, Nov. 8, 2024 at Kelso Stadium Pendleton Heights (6-6) 0 - 0 - 0 - 7 -- 7 New Palestine (11-0) 7 - 21- 7 - 6 -- 41 Scoring summary NP-Davis 28 run (Wells kick), 9:31 NP-McMahan 40 pass from Davis (Wells kick), 7:21 NP-Ca.Jacobia 43 run (Wells kick), 5:22 NP-Jos.Ranes 89 run (Wells kick), 1:07 NP-Ca.Jacobia 2 run (Wells kick), 11:18 PH-DeRolf 28 pass from Frank (DeBertrand kick), 9:42 NP-Wiegand 20 run (no kick), :00 Team stats First downs: PH 13, NP 17 Rushes-yards: PH 26-76, NP 32-354 Passing C-A-I: PH 14-29-2, NP 7-8-0 Passing yards: PH 177, NP 104 Total plays-yards: PH 55-253, NP 40-458 Penalties-yards: PH 7-50, NP 6-50 Fumbles-lost: PH 3-1, NP 2-1 Punts-avg: PH 3-27.0, NP 1-28.0 Time of possession: PH 25:25, NP 22:35 Individual stats Pendleton Heights Rushing: Jones 19-67, Pedersen 4-28, Frank 2-(-2), team 1-(-17) Passing: Frank 14-29-2-177 Receiving: Rowley 6-74, Sims 4-29, DeRolf 2-56, Grile 2-18 New Palestine Rushing: Jos.Ranes 8-134, Wiegand 17-117, Ca.Jacobia 3-62, Davis 3-28, Neal 1-13 Passing: Davis 6-7-0-92, Neal 1-1-0-12 Receiving: Oglesby 3-33, McMahan 2-45, Rollyson 1-14, Lumpkin 1-12