HANCOCK COUNTY — Mt. Vernon and New Palestine are spicing up their rivalry with a championship on the line.
Eastern Hancock, after losses in its last five sectional semifinal games, will play for a high school football sectional title for the first time since 2014.
The remaining teams in the Class 4A and Class 2A tournaments are dwindling. The Marauders and Dragons are two of 16 teams remaining in their classification and the final two in Sectional 22.
Eastern Hancock is among the Sweet 16 in Class 2A and is prepping for a Sectional 38 showdown, at home, with Winchester Friday.
“When you realize there are only 16 teams left in the entire state in our division still playing, that’s pretty awesome,” New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph said. “(Playing) a rival school, the history we have with them, the quality they’ve had over the years and that we’ve had, and the great battles, it does bring a little extra to it. At the end of the day it’s a sectional championship. It doesn’t matter who you play. If you aren’t excited to be in it there’s something wrong for you.
“But, there’s definitely a little extra fuel because of the history we have with them. That’s what makes some of these sectional (matchups) great, you’re going to see some amazing rivals play out in a championship atmosphere and that’s fun.”
Friday’s meeting in Fortville will be the 64th between New Palestine and Mt. Vernon and eighth time they’ve met in the postseason. New Palestine owns the edge both overall (38-24-1) and in postseason play (5-2).
New Palestine is the defending Sectional 22 champion. It beat Mt. Vernon in a sectional quarterfinal last year and earned a regular season win over the Marauders in September, in New Palestine, 63-39.
The Dragons have won 13 sectional titles, including seven since Kyle Ralph took over the program in 2013.
Mt. Vernon won three straight from 2019-21 and have seven championships in the sectional round.
“This year, top to bottom, I thought the (Hoosier Heritage Conference) was really competitive, but you go into the sectional, and for the last few years, the sectional is going through either New Pal or Mt. Vernon,” Mt. Vernon head coach Vince Lidy said.
“We’ve had a little bit different paths,” Lidy added. “They’ve won nine in a row and everyone has been over a conference opponent, they are doing a good job, you know what you are going to get (playing New Palestine). We were 2-4 at one point and have had to get the ship righted and kept battling.
It’s only fitting (it comes down to New Palestine and Mt. Vernon), I think it’s, going to be a great atmosphere and great game. It’s going to come down to two teams that have had their share of success the last few years and hopefully we can come out on top.”
Eastern Hancock has won 10 sectional titles, five came in the 1980s. The Royals are looking for their first championship since 2014, the second of back-to-back crowns.
The 2013 EH team reached the state finals and was the final year of head coach Pat Echeverria’s first stint with the Royals.
He returned to Eastern Hancock —after stops at Zionsville and Pike — last season. He’s glad to be back, both at Eastern Hancock and in a championship football game.
“Eastern Hancock is one of my favorite places I have ever worked,” Echeverria said. “That’s why I decided to come back.
“When a big school opportunity and that challenge of coaching at the highest level in Indiana (came) it was too good to pass up. But, I also learned some of the negatives of coaching at that level of football as well. (Eastern Hancock), the way they love football, the way they get behind their kids, and just the school atmosphere in general is why I am back. That part is all coming back to me and I love every bit of it.”
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Friday’s Football Games
Class 4A Sectional 22 Championship
7 p.m. – No. 3 New Palestine (9-2) at Mt. Vernon (7-4)
Class 2A Sectional 38 Championship
7 p.m. – Winchester (8-2) at Eastern Hancock (7-4)
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Game Capsules
No. 3 New Palestine (9-2) at Mt. Vernon (7-4)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Kyle Ralph 125-13 in 11th year at New Palestine. Vince Lidy, 27-9 in 3rd year at Mt. Vernon.
Recent history: Dragons beat the Marauders 63-39 on Sept. 8. The all-time series is led by the Dragons, 38-24-1.
Sagarin ratings: New Palestine, 90.94, 12th overall, 2nd in 4A. Mt. Vernon 70.41, 59th overall, 13th in 4A.
Players to watch: 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, DB/WR Mason Hiatt, WR/LB Mason Oglesby, WR Ty Mitchell, DB Caden Jacobia. Mt. Vernon — WR/KR Tre Jones, OL/DL Roland Trimble, RB Joliba Brogan, DB DJ Johnson, WR Chris Edmonds, DL Shawn Taylor, QB Tyler Etherington, LB Christian Kiptoo, DL Devin Kendrex, WR/DB Domanic Barnett, DB Zaidyn Ramsey-Fox, LB Aidan Lindstrom.
What to look for: Both teams are playing well at the right time of the season. The Dragons, winners of nine in a row, ran the ball for 363 yards and passed only three times in last week’s 35-0 win over No. 4 Greenfield-Central and, to go with the shutout, held the Cougars to just 140 yards. Mt. Vernon won its fifth straight and with its third different starting quarterback. Etherington threw for four touchdowns and 221 yards in a win over Beech Grove. Both NP and MV run the ball extremely well. Thomas is averaging 182.4 rushing yards per game. Brogan averages 151.5 and both are familiar with the end zone. Thomas has 26 touchdowns. Brogan has scored 21. The Dragons defense has not given up a point in nine quarters and only seven in the last 13.
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Winchester (8-2) at Eastern Hancock (7-4)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Mike Jones, 72-56 in 12th year at Winchester. Pat Echeverria, 35-24, in 5th year at Eastern Hancock, 67-80 in 13th year overall.
Recent history: The teams only previous meeting came in a sectional tournament game in 2019, at Winchester. Eastern Hancock won 22-18.
Sagarin ratings: Winchester, 48.27, 164th overall, 24th in 2A. Eastern Hancock, 50.53, 149th overall, 21st in 2A.
Players to watch: Winchester – RB/OLB Aidan Weatherhead, OL/DE Brock Goforth, DE Clayton Holder, SS/SB Carter Campbell, FS/QB Adam Moore, RB Evan Duncan, WR/FS McCormac Anderson. 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, OLB Ayden Trueblood.
What to look for: The Royals have won four of their last five after a loss at Milan in Week 6, the lone game they have scored less than 20 points. Eastern’s offense has shown balance with the running of Kube and Edon’s passing attack to favorite targets Manship and Ruble. They’ll face a stout Winchester defense that has given up just a combined 39 points in the last six weeks. The Golden Falcons have won six in a row. Weatherhead has been their top offensive weapon with 21 touchdowns and an average of 139.2 rushing yards per game. Kube has 22 scores and is averaging 125.7 per game.
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2023 Hancock County Football Statistical Leaders
PASSING
Name,School;G;C;A;YDS;PCT;Y/G;TD;INT;RAT
Mason Meyer, Mt. Vernon;6;21;36;387;.583;64.5;4;1;120.9
Dallas Freeman, Greenfield-Central;11;113;182;1444;.621;131.3;19;8;103.4
Tyler Etherington, Mt. Vernon;11;13;29;260;.448;23.6;5;1;102.0
Luke Ertel, Mt. Vernon;7;88;148;1181;.595;168.7;10;3;99.0
Gavin Neal, New Palestine;11;67;120;1262;.558;114.7;12;8;98.0
Elijah Edon, Eastern Hancock;11;129;209;1679;.617;152.6;15;7;97.0
RUSHING
Name, School;G;CAR;YDS;AVG;Y/G;TD
Grayson Thomas, New Palestine;11;279;2006;7.2;182.4;26
Joliba Brogan, Mt. Vernon;11;217;1667;7.7;151.5;20
Mark Kube, Eastern Hancock;11;204;1383;6.8;125.7;22
Braylen Benavente, Greenfield-Central;8;130;598;4.6;74.8;1
Dallas Freeman, Greenfield-Central;11;115;761;6.6;69.2;8
RECEIVING
Name, School;G;REC;YDS;AVG;Y/G;TD
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;11;41;705;17.2;64.1;10
Kyler Kropp, New Palestine;11;31;668;21.5;60.7;7
Tre Jones, Mt. Vernon;11;38;630;16.6;57.3;8
Eli Manship, Eastern Hancock;10;38;539;14.2;53.9;2
Chris Edmonds, Mt. Vernon;9;17;404;23.8;44.9;3
TACKLES
Name, School;G;S;A;T;T/G;TFL
Jake Hinton, Greenfield-Central;11;71;27;98;8.9;20.0
Cameron Volz, Eastern Hancock;11;64;30;94;8.5;1.0
Garrett Ranes, New Palestine;11;60;30;90;8.2;15.5
Ayden Trueblood, Eastern Hancock;11;45;42;87;7.9;6.0
Gabe Johnson, Eastern Hancock;11;60;22;82;7.5;10.5
SACKS
Name, School;G;S;S/G
Michael Thacker, New Palestine;5;4.0;0.8
Shawn Taylor, Mt. Vernon;11;6.0;0.5
Evan Wheeler, Eastern Hancock;11;5.5;0.5
Zaidyn Ramsey-Fox, Mt. Vernon;10;4.5;0.5
Payton Foley, Greenfield-Central;11;4.5;0.4
Jake Hinton, Greenfield-Central;11;4.5;0.4
INTERCEPTIONS
Name, School;G;I;I/G
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;11;4;0.4
Mason Hiatt, New Palestine;9;3;0.3
Caden Jacobia, New Palestine;10;3;0.3
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;21;688;32.8
John Duncan, Mt. Vernon;34;1048;30.8
Aaron Lee, Greenfield-Central;8;198;24.8
RETURN YARDS
Name, School;K;P;T
Tre Jones, Mt. Vernon;706;62;768
Cameron Volz, Eastern Hancock;277;158;435
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;240;30;270
Cooper Hinton, Greenfield-Central;226;0;226
Kyler Kropp, New Palestine;212;0;212
SCORING
Name, School;G;TD;CONV;S;K;TP;P/G
Grayson Thomas, New Palestine;11;26;0;0;0;156;14.2
Mark Kube, Eastern Hancock;11;22;0;0;0;132;12.0
Joliba Brogan, Mt. Vernon;11;21;0;0;0;126;11.5
Kyler Kropp, New Palestine;11;17;0;0;0;102;9.3
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;11;13;4;0;0;82;7.5
