NEW PALESTINE — There are more than a couple similarities in New Palestine’s Class 5A Sectional 14 opener on Friday.
It looks a lot like 2020.
For the second straight year, the Dragons will meet Franklin in a semifinal matchup at Kelso Stadium.
For the second straight year, the Dragons come in with a five-game winning streak.
For one team, the record is nearly identical. The Grizzly Cubs are 3-6. They were 3-5 last year. The Dragons are a 6-win team (6-3) heading into Friday’s matchup. They had won seven games prior to last year’s matchup.
And, again, both teams were off last week due to the sectional having only four teams and no quarterfinal round.
The Dragons are hoping the outcome is the same, too, but they’d like a much different route in getting there.
A year ago, The Dragons beat the Grizzly Cubs 31-27. New Pal trailed 27-3 in the final minute of the third quarter before a frenzied comeback got them into the sectional title game.
“I would have paid money for a ticket to that game. As a coach, I would rather forget three of the four quarters even happened,” New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph said.
“It was unforgettable,” added New Palestine senior safety Madix Johnson. “I’ve ran the game back in my mind a few times. I think we have to learn from last year. Last year should have never happened. We shouldn’t have put ourselves in that position. I think the goal this year is to come out of the gates and play Dragon football from the snap.”
Franklin recovered a New Pal fumble deep in Dragon territory for a scoop and score with just 2:44 left in the third quarter. It gave the Grizzly Cubs a 27-3 lead.
New Pal got a late third quarter TD, then outscored Franklin 20-0 in the final quarter. The Dragons got the ball with 54 seconds left and no timeouts. On third-and-19 from the New Pal 30, Dragon quarterback Lincoln Roth connected with tight end Matt Brown on a pass play that got the ball to the Franklin 2. Grayson Thomas scored on a 2-yard run with 17 seconds left to complete the comeback.
“We don’t want to start like we did last year,” senior quarterback Damon Hockett, a receiver on last year’s team, said. “They completed buried us at the start of that game and we got lucky to win that one.”
A little luck doesn’t hurt, but the Dragons feel this year’s club’s five-game winning streak is a lot different than last year.
During that 5-0 span, New Palestine has outscored opponents 229-38. A year ago that margin was 128-38, still impressive but not quite as dominant.
“The team last year compared to this year, we just have different dynamics,” Johnson said.
“Our offense and defense work differently than last year. It took us a little bit to get going this year, but I think we’re finding good steam. I think last year we were struggling week to week, but this year I think we’re picking up steam and we’re playing well going into the games that matter.”
Ralph said neither team is the same as they were in 2020 and added along with COVID-19 related issues, his team had more than its share of banged up players.
“They’re both different teams,” the coach said of this year’s matchup. “There are a lot of different players in different places. For some of those young guys last year, there’s a year of extra experience. For some of our new guys, first time starters, they’ve got nine games under their belt now.
“Last year was hard for everybody. There were so many issues with quarantines. We had so many injuries pile up throughout the season plus all the COVID stuff. We barely had the same roster play two games in a row, ever, at any position group. We’ve been healthy this year. That helps a lot, so we’ve seen a lot more consistency as we’ve got more experience. You would hope now that it’s playoff time that is going to continue to payoff for us.”
It is actually the third straight year the teams have met in the sectional. They didn’t draw each other in 2019, but ended up meeting in the championship game.
New Palestine won that one, too, also at Kelso Stadium. On its way to the Class 5A state title, the Dragons downed an 8-2 Franklin team in the sectional title game 49-14.
Last year, the Dragons season ended the following week in the sectional title game at Whiteland.
New Pal wants a similar result against Franklin. If that happens, it’ll be searching for a different outcome the following week against the Whiteland-Columbus East winner, the opponents in the other semifinal matchup.
“I think this team has a lot more passion,” senior linebacker Gus Walling said. “It’s a young team and we have a lot of drive and a lot of fight left in us. We didn’t have good practices last year (before the Franklin game) and we came out flat. We need a good week of practice, good preparation and have a lot of confidence coming in. We need to trust our process and the coaches.”
