By Andrew Smith
For The Daily Reporter
MUNCIE — One goal is down for the New Palestine football team.
The Dragons won their ninth Hoosier Heritage Conference championship in 11 years Friday, using a dominant defensive effort to beat host Delta 38-7.
The Dragons finished the regular season 7-0 in HHC play and 7-2 overall, and are now 74-2 in conference games under head coach Kyle Ralph.
“At the start of the year, I don’t think a lot of people thought we could do this,” Ralph said. “We had a good senior class last year, a lot of young kids starting, we’ve had a ton of injuries. We lost another one tonight that’s a starting corner. We got a couple of guys back and then we lose two more. Every week’s been a battle and I’m proud of our kids battling through it and being a champion.”
NP did so by controlling the line of scrimmage, holding Delta to 123 total yards — their third straight opponent held to fewer than 150 yards — while Grayson Thomas and Kyler Kropp led a 371-yard rushing effort. Thomas ran for 248 yards and two touchdowns, while Kropp ran for 82 yards and three scores.
A big reason for the defensive effort was the return of All-State junior lineman Michael Thacker, who had three sacks and spent much of the night in Delta’s backfield. He had missed the six previous games with an injury. John Ranes, another defensive lineman, also returned after missing the previous three games, bolstering the Dragons’ defensive front.
“Mike, even though he’s a junior, he was voted a team captain for us this year,” Ralph said. “He’s one of the heartbeats of our program. Losing him and having other guys step up is great for the team, but when you bring back a guy that’s the pulse of our team, you could tell our defense played really well with him out there. He makes so many great plays and adds another dimension to our defense.”
With heavy rains falling throughout much of the contest making passing difficult, the Dragons feasted on their inside running game. Thomas broke a 34-yard run on the Dragons’ second possession to put NP on the board.
A key moment came in the second quarter. After an interception set Delta up at the Dragons’ 24, the NP defense held and forced an unsuccessful field goal attempt. The Dragons then went 80 yards in five plays — with Thomas’ 53-yard run on third-and-long the key moment — and finished it with Kropp’s 15-yard scamper.
After holding Delta on downs at midfield, the Dragons again marched 52 yards in seven plays, with Kropp taking a jet sweep in from 25 yards out with 17 seconds left in the half to give NP a 21-0 lead.
The two combined to break the game open in the third. After a special teams miscue set Delta up for a 33-yard touchdown pass from Bronson Edwards to Chase Ritchie, the Dragons again moved the ball quickly. Thomas broke a 42-yard run to set the Dragons up in the red zone, where Kropp finished the drive with an 11-yard burst.
On the ensuing kickoff, Jake Wells booted a ball that died at the 1 yard line. Delta’s returner expected it to go into the end zone and did not field it. The Dragons recovered the free kick and scored on the next play on a 2-yard run by Thomas to go up 35-7.
Thomas netted his sixth career 200-yard game and his fourth this season, while Kropp tallied three touchdowns — two from the running back position and one as a slot.
“They’re both really good at what they do,” Ralph said. “Kyler takes limited reps at everything he does because he has so many jobs. He came out and played a great game. He’s a great athlete. He’s a tremendous competitor. It’s what you want a senior to do. We couldn’t get the ball to him in the passing game — or anybody — tonight, but when it was called to run the ball, he ran it really, really well. That’s good to see.”
Wells added a 34-yard field goal to cap a mammoth 16-play, 11:15 drive to end the scoring.
The Dragons now turn their eyes toward Sectional 22. NP opens with conference foe New Castle next week at Kelso Stadium. The Dragons defeated the Trojans 35-7 last week. The Dragons’ potential path to repeating as sectional champion includes three HHC foes.
“To win, we’re going to have to beat three teams you’ve already beaten once,” Ralph said. “That’s not easy to do. In our conference, you shoot your best shot to win every week. We don’t save things for later. Our job is to win. Our kids work hard to win. We don’t pull off on any play calls or schemes. They saw the best of what we have. Now, you’ve got to come up with something else to beat them. It’s going to be hard. New Castle’s a well-coached team. We played poorly the first time we played them. The big thing now is, can you refocus when it’s all on the line, and can you play better and be clean.”
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New Palestine 38, Delta 7
Delta (5-4, 3-4);0;0;7;0;-;7
New Palestine (7-2, 7-0);7;14;14;3;-;38
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
NP – Grayson Thomas 34 run (Jake Wells kick), 4:06
2nd Quarter
NP – Kyler Kropp 15 run (Wells kick), 5:42
NP – Kropp 25 run (Wells kick), :17
3rd Quarter
D – Chase Ritchie 33 pass from Bronson Edwards (Brayden Stanley kick), 9:27
NP – Kropp 11 run (Wells kick), 8:02
NP – Thomas 2 run (Wells kick), 7:57
4th Quarter
NP – Wells 34 FG, 3:56
