NEW PALESTINE — An idea that was somewhat noble — to schedule a football game in which the New Palestine Dragons might be tested and the Shelbyville Golden Bears wouldn’t be pummeled — fell through at the last minute.
The plans to swap opponents in the Oct. 4 game — homecoming night in New Palestine — took shape as an idea to get a more evenly matched opponent for both teams. Undefeated New Palestine is ranked No. 1 in Class 5A and is one of the best teams in the state. The Dragons also are defending Class 5A state champions. Shelbyville is winless and has been outscored 323-7 in five games, including a 67-0 loss last week to Greenfield-Central.
The overture, made this week by officials at New Palestine, was accepted by Shelbyville. The Golden Bears were set to play North Decatur on Oct. 4. But the effort was nixed late Tuesday when the opponent New Palestine was hoping to play pulled out of the arrangement.
New Palestine athletic director Al Cooper said the team was just trying to set up a fair game for both schools. The Dragons and the Golden Bears are both members of the Hoosier Heritage Conference and play each other every season.
“We were looking at what was in the best interest of both teams,” Cooper said. “We never meant to be disrespectful to Shelbyville, and I hope people don’t see it that way. We just saw an opportunity for them 20 minutes down the road and one for us where it looked like everybody wins.”
The issue heated up on social media late Tuesday when fans, responding to unsubstantiated rumors, worried that homecoming would be cancelled because the Golden Bears were afraid to play the Dragons. But that’s not what happened, officials at both schools said.
Jenny Demuth Hensley, Shelbyville High School’s athletic director, said New Palestine contacted Shelbyville about changing opponents for Oct. 4. According to Hensley, New Palestine officials indicated they had secured a new opponent and that North Decatur was available for the Golden Bears to play that week.
“Both high school mutually agreed this would better benefit all student athletes involved in both programs and both agreed to move forward with new opponents,” Hensley said, according to a news release from the Shelbyville athletic department.
Then, New Palestine’s new opponent, who was not identified, cancelled on Tuesday. Shelbyville elected to honor the original contract and has agreed to play against the Dragons Oct. 4 in New Palestine.
“It’s kind of unfortunate social media kind of blew it all up not knowing the real truth,” Cooper said.
Even though the Golden Bears’ season has not gone well, Hensley said they do not back down from challenges.
“Our kids will go out there and compete and do the best they can,” Hensley said.
She added: “Although these are trying times within our football program, we need to continue to support our student athletes and coaches throughout their season.”
New Palestine has dominated its conference the past several years, running up 44 straight conference wins and 59 straight regular season wins overall.
But the Dragons, who were taken over by head coach Kyle Ralph after a 3-7 season in 2012, have no plans to leave the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
Their dominance is part of a normal cycle, Cooper said.
“We’re very happy in the HHC,” Cooper said. “Some schools are going to dominate in other sports like Greenfield-Central and Pendleton in swimming… What it really does is raise the bar for everyone.”
