New Palestine’s Kyler Kropp scores a touchdown during their game against Westfield, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
HANCOCK COUNTY — Tell the county council. Tell the board of commissioners.
There needs to be a new sign greeting travelers crossing the border into Hancock County.
Welcome to the Home of Class 4A football
With Monday’s release of the latest Indiana High School Football Coaches Association poll, all three county Class 4A teams are ranked among the state’s Top 10.
The No. 2, No. 5 and No. 10 teams all call Hancock County home.
New Palestine, coming off an impressive 42-28 victory against Class 6A Westfield. is ranked No. 2. The Dragons received 88 points, just three behind No. 1 Roncalli. New Palestine (7) has more first-place votes than the Royals (3).
Defending Class 4A state champion Mt. Vernon came into the opening week ranked No. 1. With a 43-35 loss to Class 6A Noblesville, the Marauders dropped to No. 5.
New to the scene is Greenfield-Central. The Cougars beat Class 5A Plainfield last week 30-28.
You could argue the county has been a dominant home for the class for quite some time.
New Palestine won the state title in 4A in 2014, its last year before the IHSAA Tournament Success Factor sent the Dragons to Class 5A.
Mt. Vernon had been knocking on the state title door for three years before winning the championship in 2021. In 2019 and 2020, the Marauders were eliminated by eventual state champions, Evansville Memorial and Roncalli, respectively.
Under the tutelage of fourth-year head coach Travis Nolting, the Cougars have now entered the conversation.
Greenfield-Central is coming off its first winning season since 2016. It went 7-4 with three of the losses to Mt. Vernon (2) and New Palestine. The other defeat came at the hands of a Class 5A school, Plainfield, the team it beat last week, on the road, 30-28.
The seven wins were the most since a 7-5 season in 2010.
The Cougars went from receiving votes in the preseason poll to No. 10.
The Week 1 win was another milestone in Nolting’s tenure, too. It was the first time Greenfield-Central had won its season opener since 2017, when it beat small-school rival Eastern Hancock.
The wait won’t be too long before the three outstanding programs start playing each other.
Hoosier Heritage Conference play begins Sept. 2. Greenfield-Central travels to Mt. Vernon for their league openers. The Marauders will host the Dragons the following Friday, Sept. 9. New Palestine plays host to Greenfield-Central on Sept. 23.
Then, of course, they could have rematches in the postseason.
Along with being three of the 10 teams in the Class 4A rankings, they are three of the eight schools in Class 4A Sectional 22.
Before HHC games and the county confrontations, all three clubs, along with Eastern Hancock are back in action Friday.
The Cougars play host to Class 3A Greensburg. New Palestine welcomes Class 5A No. 2 Decatur Central. Mt. Vernon is on the road for the second straight week, traveling to Class 5A Franklin. Eastern Hancock begins its Mid-Eastern Conference play at North Decatur.
