New Palestine’s Kyler Kropp (17) shown here from a 2022 game, had a 65-yard touchdown run in the Dragons’ game at Westfield Friday.
Rob Baker | For The Daily Reporter
By Andrew Smith
For The Daily Reporter
WESTFIELD — The New Palestine football team knew it had a tough task facing 6A No. 7 Westfield Friday night.
The Shamrocks took advantage of some miscues from the young Dragons to build a 24-point halftime lead en route to a 34-14 victory over the Dragons.
Westfield scored two touchdowns 18 seconds apart in the opening four minutes and was in control throughout the contest, adding 10 second-quarter points and building its lead as high as 31-0 after the first drive of the second half.
It led to a large celebration from the Shamrocks, who ended the Dragons’ 14-game regular-season winning streak. It was just the Dragons’ fifth regular-season loss since 2013 and 12th overall.
“A loss is a loss. You’re not going to win them all,” Dragons coach Kyle Ralph said. “For a young team, it’s important to see the celebration that just happened behind us when a 6A ranked school beats a 4A school that’s less than half their size. It’s a celebration because it doesn’t happen often. Our guys need to understand this is serious business. Every team wants to add their name to the select few that have been able to do it. There’s a lot of pride in New Palestine football in protecting that name. It’s a learning experience.”
Grayson Thomas and Kyler Kropp both ran for 100 yards and a touchdown for the Dragons. Thomas’ 106-yard day moved him over the 4,000 mark for his career, making him the second Dragon to reach that milestone. Kropp had 103 yards rushing and 64 receiving, turning in the two biggest plays of the game — a 65-yard touchdown run and a 47-yard reception that set up another score.
The Dragons entered the contest with seven new starters on both sides of the ball, including four-fifths of the offensive line and were facing a Westfield team with multiple Division I commits.
The Shamrocks set the tone on the first drive, stuffing Thomas on a third-and-2 play and then deflecting the ensuing punt. It took four plays for quarterback Jackson Gilbert to carry in from nine yards out.
Westfield then did to the Dragons what NP has done to so many opponents — flip the scoreboard with a cascade of big plays. An interception led to a 38-yard touchdown pass to Beau Braun on the next play, putting the Shamrocks up 14-0 in an 18-second span.
The Dragons’ defense stiffened, allowing only a field goal the rest of the half, but Westfield took advantage of another miscue, recovering a fumbled handoff in the end zone to go up 24-0.
The Shamrocks only outgained NP 156-136 in the opening half, but took advantage of turnovers, big special teams plays and short fields to open up a three-score lead. Sophomore quarterback Gavin Neal ran for 64 yards in the opening half.
In the second half, the Dragons used some big plays to put a pair of scores on the board. An interception by Caden Jacobia on the Dragons’ 10 thwarted a Westfield scoring opportunity. Neal dropped in a 47-yard pass to Kropp to move the Dragons to midfield. Thomas finished the drive with a 3-yard run. On the Dragons’ next possession, Kropp took a handoff and scampered 65 yards up the left sideline for another score.
Both backs eclipsed 100 yards, becoming the first Dragons duo to do so since Thomas and Damon Hockett against Greenfield-Central in 2021.
In the opening half, the Dragons moved the ball, but had multiple drives stall at midfield.
“I thought we did some good things on offense at times. We’re just not mature enough and consistent enough to finish drives right now,” Ralph said. “That’s also a really good defense. If there’s anyone on a 4A schedule that can compete with a defense like that, you might as well give them the trophy now. They’re fast, they’re big, they’re well-coached. That’s a really, really good defense.”
Despite the score, the Dragons again took on a big challenge — their fourth game against a 6A opponent since 2018.
“They’ve been in state championships multiple times the last couple of years,” Ralph said. “(Jake Gilbert) is a great coach, great staff, great players. They’re really, really good. When we got asked to be able to play them, we wanted to step up to it and challenge our kids. What 4A public school is doing that? You’re not going to win them all when you play teams like this, but the important thing is that we grow. I knew they were good, they were advertised to be good. It’s elite level.
“Nobody’s going to feel bad for us,” Ralph said. “We’ve got to regroup and come back and face a 5A school next week in Decatur Central.”
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Westfield 34, New Palestine 14
New Palestine (0-1);0;0;0;14;-;14
Westfield (1-0);14;10;7;3;-;34
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
W – Jackson Gilbert 9 run (Brody Boehm kick), 8:45
W – Beau Braun 38 pass from Gilbert (Boehm kick), 8:27
2nd Quarter
W – Boehm 28 field goal, 4:19
W – Mikeah Webster fumble recovery in end zone (Boehm kick), 2:21
3rd Quarter
W – Gilbert 5 run (Boehm kick), 9:44
4th Quarter
NP – Grayson Thomas 3 run (Jake Wells kick), 9:45
W – Boehm 23 field goal, 4:49
NP – Kyler Kropp 65 run (Wells kick), 4:35
