HANCOCK COUNTY — Across the state, five of six IHSAA football classifications have head-to-head showdowns between top five teams.
In Class 4A, it’s a rematch between Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference rivals Greenfield-Central and New Palestine.
The No. 4 Cougars travel to the No. 3 Dragons for a Sectional 22 semifinal. The Cougars are 9-1 with their only loss coming in a Week 6 battle with the Dragons at Myers Field. The Dragons won 21-14.
New Palestine is 8-2 and has won eight straight since losses to Class 6A No. 5 Westfield and Class 5A No. 7 Decatur Central to start the season.
All four county teams made it through the first round of the tournament. In the other Sectional 22 semifinal, Mt. Vernon (6-4) hosts Beech Grove (5-5).
In one of the most exciting first round games, Eastern Hancock (6-4) defeated Lapel 45-43 to earn a spot in a Class 2A Sectional 38 semifinal contest against Cardinal Ritter (4-6). Friday’s game will be played at Marian University.
Sectional 22 is a mini-conference tournament. Five of the eight sectional teams are HHC members. Greenfield-Central sent Pendleton Heights home last week. New Palestine did the same to New Castle.
Two other HHC schools, Yorktown (5-5) and Delta (6-4), meet in a Class 3A Sectional 27 semifinal game Friday.
“Being back in 4A now for the second year after being (in Class 5A) for a while, you know you’re going to have to play the conference teams again,” New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph said. “That’s always hard, especially with our conference being pretty solid this year from bottom to top.
“Most of us are still alive after one round and a couple of us have to play each other. It’s really hard to have to play teams twice … You know the road to the sectional championship is pretty much going to go through our conference. It’s pretty cool, but also pretty difficult.”
In the first meeting, Greenfield-Central scored a touchdown on a Payton Foley run and added a two-point conversion on a quarterback keeper from Dallas Freeman midway through the third quarter to tie the game 14-14. In the fourth quarter, New Palestine all-state running back Grayson Thomas scored on a 1-yard run with 5:28 remaining with the deciding score.
Most of the second half was played with emphasis on run games and the strengths of offensive and defensive lines.
“They’re a senior-heavy team and there’s a lot of pride in that,” Ralph said of the Cougars. “They’ve had a great year this year. Physicality, ball security, all of those things are critically important come playoff time. This goes for every team, not just mine, you can’t turn the football over and you’ve got to play the game physical. Not knowing what the weather is going to bring any given day, the game is won on the ground and it’s two teams that love to run the football. Ball security and physicality are going to be at an absolute premium.”
Greenfield-Central rushed for over 350 yards last week and threw the ball just seven times. Jake Hinton (118 yards), Cooper Hinton (84), Braylen Benavente (79) and Freeman (74) all had big games on the ground.
“We played a pretty good game last week against Pendleton Heights and we’ve been stressing the importance of playing a complete three-phase game the entirety of the season,” Greenfield-Central coach Travis Nolting said. “We’re getting closer to that goal. I know our kids are excited about the opportunity to play New Pal again. New Pal has a great team. We’re going to have to play really, really well to come out on top. Our kids are excited about the opportunity to get a shot at it.”
Nolting agrees with Ralph, playing and beating someone twice is difficult.
“I think it’s tough to beat anybody twice or to play anybody twice,” Nolting added. “We play in an extremely tough conference and extremely tough sectional with state-championship caliber teams and programs. New Pal has had its share of success, Mt. Vernon, Pendleton Heights .. you look at our conference, we’re one of the better mid-sized school conferences in the state of Indiana and it’s almost inevitable with the close proximity of everybody you’re going to have to play somebody twice.”
The running game was key in all four of last week’s Hancock County wins. Thomas had two rushing touchdowns and 142 yards in New Palestine’s win over New Castle. Eastern Hancock running back Mark Kube had five touchdowns in the Royals win over Lapel. Mt. Vernon’s Joliba Brogan had three first-quarter rushing touchdowns in the Marauders big win at Richmond.
Unlike the New Pal-Greenfield matchup, Mt. Vernon and Eastern Hancock both play programs this Friday they have not seen in a long time. The Marauders are playing the Hornets for the first time since a 2014 sectional game, won by Beech Grove. The Royals and Raiders have not met since a 2006 regional matchup, won by Ritter.
Along with the big 4A showdown in Hancock County, No. 1 Brownsburg travels to No. 3 Ben Davis in Class 6A and No. 1 Bloomington North hosts rival No. 3 Bloomington South in Class 5A.
Guerin Catholic, No. 3 in Class 3A, takes on No. 1 Bishop Chatard. In Class 2A, No. 3 Brownstown Central battles No. 1 Triton Central.
Just outside of a top 5 matchup, in Class 1A, No. 1 Lutheran plays No. 6 South Putnam.
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Friday’s Sectional Football Games
Class 4A Sectional 22
7 p.m. – No. 4 Greenfield-Central (9-1) at No. 3 New Palestine (8-2)
7 p.m. – Beech Grove (5-5) at Mt. Vernon (6-4)
Class 2A Sectional 38
7 p.m. – Eastern Hancock (6-4) vs. Cardinal Ritter (4-6) at Marian University
7 p.m. – Heritage Christian (7-3) at Winchester (7-2)
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Game Capsules
Beech Grove (5-5) at Mt. Vernon (6-4)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Brandon Winters, 12-18 in 3rd year at Beech Grove, 39-40 in 8th year overall. Vince Lidy, 26-9 in 3rd year at Mt. Vernon.
Recent history: Teams have not played since a sectional game in 2014, won by the Hornets 36-21
Sagarin ratings: Beech Grove, 51.22, 140th overall, 36th in 4A. Mt. Vernon 68.24, 68th overall, 16th in 4A.
Players to watch: Beech Grove – RB Jeremiah Lee, QB Jay’mar Davis, WR Jarron Murry Jr. Mt. Vernon — WR/KR Tre Jones, OL/DL Roland Trimble, RB Joliba Brogan, DB DJ Johnson, WR Chris Edmonds, DL Shawn Taylor, TE/DE Tyler Etherington, LB Christian Kiptoo, LB Corbin May, K Rylan Vinard, QB/WR Mason Meyer.
What to look for: The semifinal matchup will feature two very talented running backs. Brogan has had a great year for the Marauders, through nine games he had 1,405 yards and 17 total touchdowns. Lee has done similar work for the Hornets. In eight games, he’s rushed fro 1,210 yards, 151.3 per contest and has 16 rushing touchdowns.
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Eastern Hancock (6-4) vs. Cardinal Ritter (4-6) at Marian University
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Pat Echeverria, 34-24, in 5th year at Eastern Hancock, 66-80 in 13th year overall. Levar Johnson, 4-6 in 1st year at Cardinal Ritter.
Recent history: The teams are playing for just the third time, Ritter has won both previous meetings. The last time they played was in a 2006 regional game with the Raiders coming out on top 42-14.
Sagarin ratings: Eastern Hancock, 49.71, 148th overall, 19th in 2A. Cardinal Ritter, 31.63, 225th overall, 38th in 2A.
Players to watch: Eastern Hancock — RB Mark Kube, DB Caiden Willis, LB Gabe Johnson, QB Elijah Edon, WR/S/KR Cam Volz, WR/DB Dylan Bowman, NG/T Logan Hoskins, TE Kayden Ruble, WR Eli Manship, OLB Evan Wheeler, K/WR Aaron Redmon. Ritter – QB Santana Allen, LB/FB Daijon Willis, WR/DB/KR Adrion Gregory, RB Marshawnn Henderson, WR/KR Martin Walker, DB Marquees Savage
What to look for: For the first time in three weeks the Royals will be playing someone other than Lapel. Friday’s matchup is one of unknowns. Eastern Hancock has not played Ritter in 17 years and the teams have no common opponents. Eastern should still be on Cloud 9 after last week’s thrilling 45-43 win on a last-second field goal from Redmon. Kube had five TDs and 228 yards. Ritter scored 42 first-half points in last week’s win over Union County. Similar to Lapel, Ritter likes to throw the football. Allen threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns in the sectional opener. Gregory had nine catches for 167 yards and two scores.
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Class 4A No. 4 Greenfield-Central (9-1) at Class 4A No. 3 New Palestine (8-2)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Travis Nolting 28-23 in 5th year at Greenfield-Central, 88-51 in 13th year overall. Kyle Ralph 124-13 in 11th year at New Palestine
Recent history: The Dragons have won 14 straight in the series dating back to 2011. In a regular season matchup in Week 6, at Greenfield-Central, New Palestine won 21-14.
Sagarin ratings: Greenfield-Central, 78.66, 32nd overall, 6th in 4A. New Palestine, 88.04, 12th overall, 2nd in 4A.
Players to watch: Greenfield-Central – TE/LB Lane Wadle, QB Dallas Freeman, RB/LB Cooper Hinton, RB/LB Jake Hinton, WR/KR Kirk Knecht, FB/DL Payton Foley, FB Braylen Benavente, OL Brayden Flener, K/P/DB Aaron Lee, WR Boston Willard, LB Eddie Mullins, DE Zach Blevens. New Palestine — RB/LS Grayson Thomas, OL/DL Ian Moore, OL/DL Brock Brownfield, RB/WR Kyler Kropp, DL Michael Thacker, QB Gavin Neal, LB Josh Ranes, LB Garrett Ranes, WR/S Cameron Rollyson, DL Abe Walling, WR/LB Mason Oglesby, WR Ty Mitchell.
What to look for: This is the marquee matchup of Class 4A sectional semifinal games with both teams – not only being county and conference rivals – but ranked in the top five. Both played well a week ago in their postseason openers. Expect a physical, hard-nosed matchup with two teams that have had great success all season running the football. Thomas ran for a pair of touchdowns and 186 yards in the first meeting, including the go-ahead score midway through the fourth quarter. Jake Hinton and Foley combined for 186 for the Cougars. Hinton had 96 and Foley had 90 and two TDs stepping in for an injured Benavente at fullback.
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2023 Hancock County Football Statistical Leaders
PASSING
Name,School;G;C;A;YDS;PCT;Y/G;TD;INT;RAT
Dallas Freeman, Greenfield-Central;10;100;161;1319;.621;131.9;19;6;111.8
Luke Ertel, Mt. Vernon;7;88;148;1181;.595;168.7;10;3;99.0
Gavin Neal, New Palestine;10;65;117;1233;.556;123.3;12;8;98.0
Mason Meyer, Mt. Vernon;5;15;27;257;.556;51.4;2;1;97.3
Elijah Edon, Eastern Hancock;10;112;189;1433;.593;143.3;10;7;85.3
RUSHING
Name, School;G;CAR;YDS;AVG;Y/G;TD
Grayson Thomas, New Palestine;10;258;1861;7.2;186.1;24
Joliba Brogan, Mt. Vernon;9;189;1405;7.4;156.1;16
Mark Kube, Eastern Hancock;10;191;1285;6.7;128.5;22
Braylen Benavente, Greenfield-Central;7;120;556;4.6;79.4;1
Dallas Freeman, Greenfield-Central;10;111;759;6.8;75.9;8
RECEIVING
Name, School;G;REC;YDS;AVG;Y/G;TD
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;10;36;652;18.1;65.2;10
Kyler Kropp, New Palestine;10;29;639;22.0;63.9;7
Eli Manship, Eastern Hancock;9;35;525;15.0;58.3;2
Tre Jones, Mt. Vernon;9;29;467;16.1;51.9;6
Ty Mitchell, New Palestine;8;16;321;20.1;40.1;3
TACKLES
Name, School;G;S;A;T;T/G;TFL
Cameron Volz, Eastern Hancock;10;59;29;88;8.8;1.0
Jake Hinton, Greenfield-Central;10;60;23;83;8.3;19.0
Ayden Trueblood, Eastern Hancock;10;41;41;82;8.2;4.5
Garrett Ranes, New Palestine;10;55;26;81;8.1;14.0
Gabe Johnson, Eastern Hancock;10;58;21;79;7.9;10.5
SACKS
Name, School;G;S;S/G
Shawn Taylor, Mt. Vernon;9;5.0;0.6
Evan Wheeler, Eastern Hancock;10;4.5;0.5
Garrett Ranes, New Palestine;10;4.0;0.4
Jake Hinton, Greenfield-Central;10;4.0;0.4
Zach Blevens, Greenfield-Central;10;4.0;0.4
INTERCEPTIONS
Name, School;G;I;I/G
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;9;4;0.4
Mason Hiatt, New Palestine;8;3;0.4
Caiden Willis, Eastern Hancock;10;3;0.3
Six players have two interceptions
PUNTING
Name, School;P;YDS;AVE
Aaron Redmon, Eastern Hancock;19;694;36.5
Cooper Hinton, Greenfield-Central;6;204;34.0
Jake Wells, New Palestine;19;621;32.7
John Duncan, Mt. Vernon;29;897;30.9
Aaron Lee, Greenfield-Central;8;198;24.8
RETURN YARDS
Name, School;K;P;T
Tre Jones, Mt. Vernon;677;62;739
Cameron Volz, Eastern Hancock;271;156;427
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;240;30;270
Cooper Hinton, Greenfield-Central;226;0;226
Kyler Kropp, New Palestine;188;0;188
SCORING
Name, School;G;TD;CONV;S;K;TP;P/G
Grayson Thomas, New Palestine;10;24;0;0;0;144;14.4
Mark Kube, Eastern Hancock;10;22;0;0;0;132;13.2
Joliba Brogan, Mt. Vernon;9;17;0;0;0;102;11.3
Kyler Kropp, New Palestine;10;14;0;0;0;84;8.4
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;10;13;4;0;0;82;8.2
