Mt. Vernon (2-1) at New Palestine (3-0)
GAME TIME: 7:30 p.m., Kelso Stadium.
COACHES: Doug Armstrong, 33-15 in fifth year at Mt. Vernon (Fortville), 85-71 in 15th year overall. Kyle Ralph, 31-1 in 3rd year at New Palestine.
SAGARIN RATINGS: New Palestine, 94.23, second overall, first in Class 5A. Mt. Vernon (Fortville), 63.69, 102nd overall, 23rd in Class 4A.
LAST OUTING: Mt. Vernon (Fortville) defeated Greenfield-Central, 20-14, overtime. New Palestine defeated Yorktown, 63-7.
OPPONENTS’ RECORDS: Mount Vernon (Fortville) 4-5, New Palestine 5-4.
SERIES LAST 30 YEARS: New Palestine, 22-14.
LAST MEETING: New Palestine, 31-3, Sept. 12, 2014.
NOTES: The Marauders needed overtime last week to defeat Greenfield-Central 20-14… New Palestine also started the Hoosier Heritage Conference season with a win, 63-7 against Yorktown … Mt. Vernon starting quarterback Jimmy Campbell scored two rushing touchdowns, one in overtime, to give the Marauders the win … He finished with 49 yards passing and 80 yards rushing … Defensively, Nathan Seifert and Mitch McCarthy led Mt. Vernon with 11 tackles apiece … In the Dragons’ win against the Tigers, Class 5A No. 1 New Palestine scored 21 points in both the second and third quarters … Quarterback Alex Neligh led the team to 17 first downs with 193 passing yards and two touchdowns to go along with 179 rushing yards and three scores … He also threw his first interception of the season … Freshman Luke Ely and Senior Nick Brickens combined for 148 yards on the ground in the Dragons’ 18th straight win dating back to 2015 … Last season, New Palestine beat Mt. Vernon 31-3 … The Marauder’s only score was a field goal in the second quarter … Of all the Dragons’ opponents during the past two seasons, Mt. Vernon has played them closer than any HHC team … Neligh threw for 204 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in last season’s win but was held to one rushing yard, according to Maxpreps.com … Mt. Vernon looks to improve to 3-1 for the third time in four seasons.
— Kris Mills
