New Palestine High School

The New Palestine football team left little doubt throughout the season, dominating opponents as they romped through an unbeaten season. It all culminated Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Dragons surrendered the first score, but then flexed their muscles, dominating both lines of scrimmage en route to a 56-26 victory over East Noble in the Class 4A State Finals. The Dragons won their fourth state title in an 11-season span, joining championships won in 2014, 2018 and 2019. Each time, they finished with an unbeaten season. This time, it was a 14-0 season, in which the Dragons had a 35-point lead or greater in 11 of the 14 victories, including four of the six state tournament games. The Dragons amassed 384 rushing yards and gained 511 yards of total offense in the contest. After a three-and-out on their first drive, they scored touchdowns on eight of their next nine possessions that didn't involve running out the first-half clock, while holding a powerful East Noble running game to 61 total yards - the 13th consecutive opponent the Dragons had held under 100 yards rushing. Dylan Krehl, East Noble's 1,600-yard rusher, had minus-2 yards rushing in the game. Josh Ranes ran for 166 yards and a 4A State Finals record-tying four touchdowns. Caden Jacobia added 163 yards and two scores, while quarterback Jacob Davis ran for 50 yards and a touchdown, while completing 11-of-12 for 127 yards and a score. The Dragons surrendered the first score, as East Noble's Riley Biddle hit Logan Hatton for an 80-yard TD on the Knights' first offensive snap. It was the first time the Dragons had trailed in a game since August. But the Dragons quickly responded, with a hard-nosed 14-play, 80-yard drive that saw the Dragons convert three third downs. Ranes and Davis each had 14-yard runs in the drive. Ranes finished the drive with a 1-yard TD to tie the game. The Red Rage forced a three-and-out, and then showed their explosiveness on the next possession, where Davis hit Austin McMahan on a short out route, but McMahan turned it upfield, made the cornerback miss his tackle, and outran everyone - with an assist from Cameron Rollyson's blocking - to the end zone for a 52-yard TD. It was McMahan's fifth TD from beyond midfield on the season. More importantly, it gave the Dragons a 14-7 lead and they were off and running. The Red Rage forced a three-and-out and the Dragons again drove into East Noble territory, but they were stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Knights' 37. However, the Knights stalled at midfield and punted the ball back to the Dragons, who marched 70 yards in seven plays - all on the ground - with both Ranes and Jacobia rushing for 22 yards on the drive. Ranes finished with a 1-yard run to put the Dragons up 21-7. They flipped the scoreboard quickly, as Rollyson punched the ball free and Ranes recovered on the East Noble 23 after the Knights' next offensive play. A 12-yard pass to Mason Oglesby moved the Dragons to the 6. Three plays later, Ranes punched it in for his third TD of the night to push the lead to 28-7 late in the first half. East Noble hit two long passing plays to Landon Swogger for 38 and 26 yards - the latter for a score - to crawl within two scores with a minute to go in the half, but that was as close as the Knights would get. The Knights looked to try to cut their deficit to one score, but the Red Rage forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the second half. After a long punt, the Dragons took over at their own 11 and methodically marched downfield, with Ranes busting a 41-yard run to move the ball to the East Noble 12. Three plays later, Davis scored from a yard out to push the lead to 35-13. Another East Noble punt led to another Dragons touchdown, as Jacobia broke a 61-yard run late in the third to push the edge to 42-13. The Knights scored before the end of the quarter, but the Dragons recovered an on-side kick and pushed the ball slowly downfield before Ranes scored his fourth TD to make it 49-13. Oglesby recovered a fumbled snap and Jacobia scored from nine yards out to extend the lead with 6:29 left in the game. East Noble scored a late touchdown against the Dragons' second unit, but the Dragons' celebration was on, as they enjoyed their fourth state title. NOTES: Ranes finished the year with 2,238 rushing yards, fourth on the NPHS single-season rushing list behind Charlie Spegal (twice) and Grayson Thomas. ... He also finished the season with 30 touchdowns. ... McMahan finished with 849 receiving yards, seventh on the NPHS single-season receiving list. ... Davis' 1,949 passing yards are seventh on the NPHS single-season passing list. ... Ranes became the fifth player to rush for four touchdowns in the Class 4A state championship game, tying a State Finals record. ... The Dragons are now 4-2 all-time in State Finals games. They are the 20th program to win four state championships in football. Kyle Ralph is the 16th coach to win four state championships. ... The Dragons defeated the No. 4 (Chatard), No. 3 (Martinsville) and No. 2 (East Noble) teams in the state in the last three rounds, per the USA Today Network poll. ... Jacobia's 163 rushing yards were a career high. IHSAA Class 4A State Finals: Dragons 56, East Noble 26 Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis New Palestine (14-0) 14 - 14 - 14 - 14 -- 56 East Noble (13-2) 7 - 6 - 6 - 7 -- 26 Scoring summary EN-Hatton 80 pass from Biddle (Sprague kick), 10:15 NP-Jos.Ranes 1 run (Wells kick), 4:35 NP-McMahan 52 pass from Davis (Wells kick), 2:55 NP-Jos.Ranes 1 run (Wells kick), 5:23 NP-Jos.Ranes 1 run (Wells kick), 2:43 EN-Swogger 26 pass from Biddle (pass failed), 1:43 NP-Davis 1 run (Wells kick), 5:39 NP-Ca.Jacobia 61 run (Wells kick), 3:04 EN-Borders 30 pass from Biddle (pass failed), 1:22 NP-Jos.Ranes 2 run (Wells kick), 9:07 NP-Ca.Jacobia 9 run (Wells kick), 6:33 EN-Plattner 3 run (Sprague kick), 1:42 Team stats First downs: NP 23, EN 9 Rushes-yards: NP 57-384, EN 20-61 Passing C-A-I: NP 11-12-0, EN 7-27-0 Passing yards: NP 127, EN 201 Total plays-yards: NP 69-511, EN 47-262 Fumbles-lost: NP 2-0, EN 2-2 Penalties-yards: NP 8-85, EN 3-20 Punts-avg: NP 2-45.5, EN 6-37.8 Time of possession: NP 33:03, EN 14:57 Individual stats New Palestine Rushing: Jos.Ranes 24-166, Ca.Jacobia 17-163, Davis 11-50, Wiegand 2-6, Wadman 2-0, team 1-(-1) Passing: Davis 11-12-0-127 Receiving: Oglesby 7-53, McMahan 3-71, Rollyson 1-3 East Noble Rushing: Plattner 10-72, Biddle 2-4, Krehl 7-(-2), team 1-(-13) Passing: Biddle 7-27-0-201 Receiving: Swogger 3-82, Treesh 2-9, Hatton 1-80, Borders 1-30