For the Daily Reporter
MUNCIE — For a brief moment on Friday night, it looked as if New Palestine might be in for a close game. That was not meant to be, however, as each time the Delta Eagles looked to have a spark, the Dragons snuffed it out. Building a halftime lead of 35-0, the Dragons defeated the Eagles 49-13 to clinch yet another Hoosier Heritage Conference championship.
“Winning the conference is still a really big deal to these kids, the coaching staff, and the community,” Dragons coach Kyle Ralph said afterwards. “That’s been the driving goal these last seven weeks and it’s nice to accomplish that.”
Senior running back Charlie Spegal had a bit of a homecoming, as he played his first two seasons at Delta. Right away, Spegal made himself known, running for 69 yards on the opening drive and capping it off with a 58-yard touchdown run.
The Dragons quickly got the ball back and marched all the way down to the 2-yard line, and Delta stiffened. Three runs by Spegal and a keeper by quarterback Lincoln Roth were stuffed by the Eagles, and it appeared as if the momentum may swing to Delta. However, the Eagles were never able to solve the Dragons defense in the first half, totaling less than 50 yards.
As the defense held, the Dragons offense got in gear, scoring 28 second-quarter points. Two of those touchdowns were 48-yard passes from Roth to receiver Brody Luker. The final touchdown of the quarter came on a 90-yard drive with 1:19 remaining on the clock, which gave the Dragons a 35-0 halftime lead and ensured a running clock for the remainder of the game.
In the second half, Spegal scored two more touchdowns. In what is becoming a common occurrence, this final touchdown gave Spegal yet another all-time record, this time for total points scored in a career, with 952. He is currently tied with Brett Law, whom Spegal previously passed for the career touchdown record.
For the Dragons, with their regular season goals out of the way, it is now time to focus on playoff football. For Ralph, he believes this group has experienced the highs and lows necessary to properly focus on the task ahead.
“This senior group has won a state championship and lost a sectional championship game,” Ralph said. “They know what playoff football requires and how you have to focus on each opponent individually or face the consequences.”
The Dragons will get a bye-week, meaning they will next play on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. on the road against Whiteland.
