New Palestine High School

The New Palestine football team is in the IHSAA State Finals for the sixth time, facing East Noble at 3 p.m. Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Class 4A State Finals: #1/1 New Palestine Dragons (13-0) vs. #2/2 East Noble Knights (13-1) Time: 3 p.m. Friday Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis Tickets: $15, purchase at https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/05006168D43A3355 or at the Lucas Oil Stadium box office. NOTE: LUCAS OIL STADIUM IS A CASHLESS VENUE. ALL TICKETS ARE 100% DIGITAL. Audio: NewPalRadio.com (free) Video: https://www.ihsaatv.org/ ($15) SETTING THE SCENE The Dragons are in the State Finals for the sixth time in school history, seeking their fourth state title. NP won the title in 2014, 2018 and 2019 - the latter two in Class 5A - and was the state runner-up in 1990 and 2015. The Dragons are seeking to become the 20th program in IHSAA history to win four football state championships. The Dragons are one of 23 programs statewide to have played in six state championship games. In addition, Kyle Ralph is vying to become the 16th coach to win four state titles in IHSAA history. This is the Dragons’ first game against East Noble, which is in the State Finals for the fourth time and first since 2019. The Knights won a state title in 2000 under the tutelage of former Dragons head coach Tim Able. The Dragons defeated the No. 4 and No. 3 teams in the state in the last two rounds, in Chatard and Martinsville. They face the No. 2 team this weekend. DRAGONS NOTES The Dragons have used a powerful running game and strong defense to carry themselves into the State Finals. In the last three weeks, the Dragons have had two 100-yard rushers. Last week, Caden Jacobia tallied career highs with 117 yards and three touchdowns, while Josh Ranes added 109 yards and a score in a 43-7 victory over Martinsville. As a team, the Dragons amassed 416 yards of total offense, including 287 on the ground against Martinsville. Ranes became the seventh back in NPHS history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season last week. He now has 2,072 yards, fifth on the single-season rushing list. He needs 25 yards to catch Alex Neligh in fourth. Quarterback Jacob Davis has emerged as a strong dual threat. He has 55 yards rushing and 129 yards passing last week, and has two 100-yard rushing games this season, including 108 against Chatard in the regional. With 1,822 passing yards, Davis is eighth on the NPHS single-season passing list. Davis and Austin McMahan hooked up for their 12th touchdown last week, a 38-yard completion. The duo has had eight touchdown connections of 35 yards or more this season. McMahan had 93 yards last week and currently ranks 10th on the NPHS single-season receiving list with 778 yards this season. The Red Rage defense came up big again last week, holding a Martinsville team that was averaging 40.8 ppg to just seven points. The Artesians were held to 69 total yards in the second half. Garrett Ranes had seven tackles and an interception. Desmond Palmer and McMahan also had interceptions. The Dragons are now plus-23 in turnover margin, with 28 takeaways. They have forced 10 turnovers in their last four games. McMahan has INTs in back-to-back weeks. DT Michael Thacker had five tackles last week. Abe Walling had six tackles. Thacker, a two-time All-State selection, has 10 sacks on the year and is the Dragons’ career leader with 35.5. He also has 29.5 TFL. Brock Brownfield has seven sacks. The Dragons have scored on their opening possession nine times this season. Their streak of six straight opening-possession TDs was snapped last week. Eight Dragons were named to the All-Hoosier Heritage Conference team - Davis (QB), Josh Ranes (RB), McMahan (WR), OLs Brock Brownfield and Walling, Thacker (DL), Garrett Ranes (LB) and Palmer (DB). SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS East Noble has rolled off 12 straight wins to earn a trip to Indy. The Knights are sixth in 4A in scoring offense (38.6) and second to the Dragons in scoring defense (10.3). East Noble is averaging 242 yards per game on the ground, led by 1,625-yard rusher Dylan Krehl. Quarterback Rylee Biddle is completing 52% of his passes for 1,584 yards and 20 touchdowns. Krehl, a senior MLB, (116 tackles, 20 TFL, 5 sacks) leads East Noble’s defense. East Noble’s defense has 30 interceptions on the season, led by Alex Scott (8) and Mason Treesh (7). The Knights have 41 takeaways total. The Knights have shut out five teams this season, including blanking Leo and Fort Wayne Dwenger in the final two games of the sectional. Head coach Alex Stewart is in his first year at East Noble after nine at Western. FOLLOW US All New Palestine games are broadcast free-to-listen at NewPalRadio.com. All home regular season 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).