NEW PALESTINE — Just like their moniker suggests, the New Palestine Dragons came out with a little more fire in the second half.
The Class 5A defending state champions and top-ranked Dragons defeated Pendleton Heights 47-6 at Kelso Stadium Friday, outscoring the Arabians 33-0 in the second half and holding their Madison County foe without a second-half first down.
“We told the kids this is the type of game you signed up for,” New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph said. “This is what you have to love to play in. The team that comes out and is the most enthusiastic about the second half is going to be the one that wins it.
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“Our kids came out and just did a tremendous job in the second half and started becoming the team that we want them to be.”
For the Dragons, it was their 59th straight regular season win and 44th straight victory in the Hoosier Heritage Conference. The Dragons are 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in the HHC. Pendleton Heights dropped to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in league play.
Junior quarterback Lincoln Roth threw four second-half touchdown passes and rushed for one in the first half. He hit Blake Austin for a 76-yard score on the second play of the third quarter to give the Dragons a 21-6 lead.
He threw a pair of second-half scoring strikes to Maxen Hook, a 47-yarder and a 6-yarder. The latter was set up by a 44-yard pass to Hook, who zigged and zagged on his long runs to excite the packed home side of the stadium stands.
Roth also connected with Eric Roudebush on a 20-yard score.
It was an exciting night for the young quarterback, too, just five starts into his varsity career.
Roth finished 8-for-12 for 243 yards and four scores.
“He’s going to keep getting better as the weeks go on,” Ralph said. “He’s a young kid, and he’s learning on the fly. He’s into the game plans and prepares himself really well. He’s a tough, gritty kid, and tonight was a great night for him.”
Along with holding the Pendleton Heights offense without a second-half first down, New Palestine had interceptions from Kade Large and Luke Canfield. Large’s pick helped set up the first of the two Roth-to-Hook touchdowns.
The Dragons really needed the second-half fire, too. They were in quite a battle for the first 24 minutes.
Charlie Spegal scored on a 1-yard run with 1.3 seconds to go in the second quarter to give New Pal a 14-6 lead, but for the majority of the first half the ball was in the Arabians’ hands.
Pendleton Heights dominated possession in the first half. The Arabians had the ball for nearly 75 percent of the first two quarters, but in their 17:52 of possession, they had to settle for two field goals.
The Dragons scored twice, too, but they scored touchdowns in their six-plus minutes with the ball.
A 60-yard punt by Roudebush backed Pendleton Heights to its own 4, but the Arabians were able to convert four third-down tries to get down to the New Palestine 7. They couldn’t convert the fifth one and had to settle for a Nick Taylor 25-yard field goal.
The drive took nearly nine minutes off the clock and cut the Dragons lead to 7-6.
Set up by Hook’s kickoff return to midfield, the Dragons needed every bit of the 1:29 left on the clock to take the 14-6 lead. It took eight plays, seven rushes by Spegal, to get the state’s all-time leading rusher in on a 1-yard run with just 1.3 to go.
Pendleton Heights had the lead early.
Its second possession of the game, started after a Spegal fumble, and ended in a 32-yard Taylor field goal.
Again, it didn’t take long for the Dragons to answer and when the Dragons answered on Friday, it was with touchdowns.
On a drive that went 80 yards in just 1:59, Roth scored on a 12-yard keeper for a 7-3 Dragons lead.
“You have to give (New Palestine) credit,” Pendleton Heights coach Jed Richman said. “They really tightened up when we got down there. We didn’t execute as well, and that’s a credit to their defense more than anything. They had some nice adjustments in the second half and took away some of the things that we were being successful on.
“They’re an awfully good football team. You can’t beat yourselves. When they turn the ball over, we have to get seven, not three.”
Spegal finished with 24 carries for 166 yards. He went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season and will have 1,003 going into next Friday’s Hancock County clash at Greenfield-Central.
Pendleton Heights will continue its stretch of playing Hancock County foes. The Arabians travel to Mt. Vernon on Friday. The Arabians defeated Greenfield-Central, in Pendleton, last week.
