NEW PALESTINE — With a quick glance at their season record, the Class 5A fifth-ranked New Palestine Dragons appear exactly as they have in years past.
Head coach Kyle Ralph’s program opened the season 2-0 and are 6-1 overall entering the regular-season finale, despite contending with COVID-19 quarantine issues that erased its Week 1 game and a massive chunk of its preseason training.
Their lone loss to rival Mt. Vernon, 35-22, on Sept. 11, ended the Dragons’ longstanding 49-game Hoosier Heritage Conference winning streak and 65-game regular-season run, dating back to 2013.
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Yet, since the loss, the Dragons have rattled off four consecutive victories with a pair of shutouts and 14 points allowed at most against rival Greenfield-Central, 17-14, on Sept. 25.
However, what can’t be seen in the superficial numbers are the costly totals that have mounted from Day 1.
The injuries, the lost time due to quarantines and the kids that have opted to quit as the weeks have sped by this fall.
“Every time I have to walk onto that field, I want to throw up,” Ralph remarked on the disheartening trend his team has experienced this season. “Every time I have to walk and pick someone up off the field, it makes me sick. There was a point where we were losing two to three kids a week.
“I think the most we were down at one point was 11 or 12 starters. Legitimate kids that were in starting roles. And, the hard part with us is when you lose one, you lose anywhere from four to five players in one.”
A Class 4A school based on enrollment at 1,175 students, New Palestine is the second-smallest in its current 5A classification, so when an injury strikes, it has a profound ripple effect throughout the depth chart.
When Air Force commit Matthew Brown, a 6-foot-3, 238-pound senior, became sidelined with a shoulder injury, the Dragons didn’t merely lose a starting defensive end. They had to replace a punter, a kick returner, a tight end, a team leader and varsity experience.
Baylor Hurst, a 5-9, 157-pound sophomore defensive back/wide receiver, is one of the latest in-season casualties due to injury. Unfortunately, he could have played his last game of 2020 last week when the Dragons gritted out a 28-0 win at New Castle.
“Our whole thing is to be 1-0, and unfortunately, we’ve had some more injuries pop up after last week that have taken more starters out, so we just have to keep plugging kids in and finding a way,” Ralph said. “It definitely hasn’t been an easy year for us in any way, shape or form.”
The schedule hasn’t done any Dragons (6-1, 5-1 HHC) any favors, including tonight as they host HHC foe Delta (6-1, 5-1 HHC), who owns an identical record as New Palestine.
A win against Delta will secure the Dragons’ sole possession of second-place in the HHC. A win and a 4A No. 1 Mt. Vernon loss (8-0, 6-0 HHC) at Yorktown could put them in a tie for first, but the key word is win.
Namely, finding a way to win, which the Dragons continue to discover while facing considerable odds.
“You come into the last game against a really good team that’s 6-1 like Delta, it’s going to be tough,” Ralph said. “Our conference is really strong this year, so it’s another opportunity to go out and see what we’re made of and have new kids playing in new spots and trying to figure out another way to win again.”
The health and presence of vital team leaders such as senior quarterback Lincoln Roth (897 yards passing and eight touchdowns) and senior wide receiver Blake Austin (37 receptions, 517 yards and six touchdowns) provide the Dragons with some punch.
Both have been crucial to the Dragons’ sustained success along with the 11 other active projected senior starters for the regular-season finale.
However, where Ralph and his coaches have had to turn the most during the campaign’s season-long trial resides further down the depth chart and, particularly, the age bracket.
Case in point, freshman running back Grayson Thomas, who leads the team with 835 yards rushing on 142 carries with 10 touchdowns and 5.9 yards per attempt.
Thomas, a starter from the season opener, has eclipsed 100 yards four different weeks and posted 228 yards and three touchdowns against Shelbyville on Oct. 2.
Last week, Thomas amassed 195 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries against New Castle.
“Grayson Thomas just turned 15 years old last week before the game. He’s 14 years old playing varsity football. He turns 15 last week and then runs for 195 yards a day or two after his birthday,” Ralph said.
“The last time he suited up before Brebeuf (on Aug. 28) the first week, he was playing at Doe Creek. Then, he starts Week 1 against a really good 3A team in Brebeuf at 14. That’s pretty impressive.”
That description speaks volumes of the entire program, which is still averaging 26.4 points per game and allowing only 8.6 against.
The patchwork team has posted three shutouts this year, and only Mt. Vernon has tallied more than two touchdowns versus the Dragons’ Red Rage.
Oddly enough, a majority of the team’s starters wouldn’t typically be under the lights on Friday.
“At one point this year, we were down 11 or 12 starters, going into games. I think the New Castle game was the first time all season that we had the same offensive line play in two consecutive games,” Ralph said. “Our receivers and defensive backs are absolutely decimated by injuries. It’s been tough. But, it’s the way it goes sometimes.”
No excuses remains the Dragons’ philosophy even when they would seem warranted.
Instead, freshman like Thomas, sophomores such as Bryant and Blaine Nunnally at wide receiver and on defense, freshman Mason Hiatt on defense and juniors Damon Hockett at wide receiver and Madix Johnson at free safety are learning as they go and making an impact.
“Our kids are playing hard, and a lot of different kids are stepping up. We’re finding ways to get the job done,” Ralph said.
“We’ve been a little decimated by things, but like I tell the kids, no one feels sorry for us. We’ve had a good run, and there’s no one that’s going to feel sorry for us because of injuries and what we can’t really control. Everyone wants a chance to beat us, and that’s the attitude they need to take into practices and games.”
The same goes for tonight in the final preparation week before sectional play begins.
“There are no moral victories. There are just wins and losses. At the end of the day, we have to have kids step up and perform,” Ralph said.
“Truthfully, we’re playing kids that normally would be developing on JV. We’re starting those kids on varsity, so it’s tough, but with that comes a lot of experience and a lot of pride that I think we’ve developed through that. It’s been rewarding in the long run because I think what we’re seeing every week are those young guys getting better.”
