NEW PALESTINE — It had to be a big surprise to many.
Not necessarily who won the game, but how they won it.
New Palestine (9-2) dominated from start to finish and defeated Greenfield-Central 35-0 in a battle of two of the top teams in Class 4A in a Sectional 22 semifinal game at Kelso Stadium Friday.
The Dragons came in ranked No. 3 in the state. Greenfield-Central was No. 4.
It was nothing like their first meeting, a Week 6 battle in the trenches. New Palestine won that one, too, but it was a 21-14 outcome and the Cougars only loss until Friday.
It was a battle in the trenches again this time, but it was all New Palestine all the time.
It didn’t take long for the home team to take control.
The Dragons defense held Greenfield-Central to two three-and-outs on the Cougars first two offensive series. The first series were all negative yardage plays.
While the defense stopped what had been a potent G-C offense, the Dragons were grinding things out by running the ball and finishing long drives with touchdowns.
New Palestine’s first possession was an 11-play [all runs] 54 yard drive that finished with a one-yard touchdown run by Kyler Kropp.
The second drive had a pair of passes, but the majority of it came on the ground. A 60-yard drive took eight plays and wrapped up with another score from Kropp, a 7-yarder.
Greenfield-Central moved the ball through the air on its next two series, but the first ended in an interception by Alex Guhl. It was followed by a 12-play, 80-yard New Palestine drive finishing with a Grayson Thomas 7-yard touchdown run. The only pass play of the drive was incomplete.
Another G-C drive ended when New Palestine junior defensive lineman Michael Thacker knocked down a fourth-down pass. The last Cougar offensive possession of the first half was stopped by a Caden Jacobia interception.
The Dragons took the opening drive of the second half and rushed four times for 68 yards. Quarterback Gavin Neal had a 33 yard run and Kropp dashed for a 25-yarder. Thomas finished it with his second score of the game, a 4-yarder for a 28-0 lead.
The next drive was just two plays and 63 yards, and, of course, both on the ground. Set up by a Thomas 32-yard run, Kropp took it the distance from 31 yards out to give New Palestine a 35-0 lead with 8:04 left in the third quarter, putting the game where no one thought it would go — to running-clock rules.
“We hang our hat on physicality. I know we’re young, on both sides, but our kids work tremendously hard in the weightroom to do the things that they do. We put this game on our guys up front,” New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph said. “We threw the ball a little bit tonight and missed some open passes, which is unfortunate.
“But, when you’re running the ball the way we did, what’s the point of throwing, honestly? I thought our guys up front did a great job. (Offensive line coach) Dan Buchanan did a great job with those O-linemen getting them prepared. The D-line guys were absolutely spectacular for the most part tonight. When our big boys are rolling we look pretty good. It needs to stay that way.”
Both Kropp and Thomas rushed for over 100 yards. Thomas finished, unofficially, with 22 carries for 156 yards. He went over the 2,000-yard mark for the season on his second to last carry. Kropp, who played quarterback in the Wildcat formation on a number of plays, had 11 carries for 123 yards.
“That was the gameplan,” New Palestine senior lineman Ian Moore said. “We knew we had to come out with energy. If we came out flat, they were going to break us down. We didn’t. We came out hard and we completely ran through them. It was a great feeling.”
Friday’s win was New Palestine’s ninth straight. Greenfield-Central finished 9-2, with both losses coming to New Palestine.
“This wasn’t our night. I always take responsibility for all the setbacks,” Greenfield-Central coach Travis Nolting said. “We didn’t come out and play very well and execute on either side of the ball and special teams.
“Hats off to New Pal. They are a great program. They’re the team to beat until you beat them. They run a great program and they play hard. Tonight just wasn’t our night.”
It was the second straight year the Cougars and Dragons met in a sectional semifinal. Last year, New Palestine won 33-9.
New Palestine won for the 15th straight time against Greenfield-Central. The Cougars last win was in 2011.
Though a tough loss for the Cougars, they had one of the best seasons in school history.
Their nine wins are the most since the 1975 team had the same amount. The only season with more victories came 50 years ago when the Cougars went 12-0 and won the 1973 state title.
“Historic. I came in here five years ago and the program was probably at the lowest point it ever had been,” Nolting said. “Our kids just worked so hard. They bought into everything we told them, weightroom, classroom and on the field. It’s a testament of what type of kids we have.”
–
New Palestine 35, Greenfield-Central 0
Greenfield-Central (9-2);0;0;0;0;-;0
New Palestine (9-2);14;7;14;0;-;35
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
NP – Kyler Kropp 1 run (Jake Wells kick) 5:22
NP –Kropp 5 run (Wells kick) :46.7
2nd Quarter
NP – Grayson Thomas 7 run (Wells kick) 5:14
3rd Quarter
NP –Thomas 4 run (Wells kick) 10:58
NP –Kropp 31 run (Wells kick) 7:45
