HANCOCK COUNTY — For three Hancock County teams, the end of the high school football season is more than just getting ready for sectional play in two weeks.
Eastern Hancock (4-3, 2-0) clinched a share of the Mid-Eastern Conference title last week with a 40-26 win at home against Monroe Central.
At Shenandoah (1-6, 0-1) Friday, the Royals can become outright and undefeated league champions.
New Palestine (5-2, 5-0) can secure a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference championship with a win at home on Senior Night against New Castle (1-6, 0-5).
Greenfield-Central (6-1, 4-1) hosts Delta (5-2, 3-2) in another HHC matchup. The Cougars are trying to stay alive in the HHC race, trailing the Dragons by one game.
For the Royals, it would be a complete turnaround in MEC games from 2022. Eastern Hancock lost to North Decatur (40-0), Monroe Central (47-42) and Shenandoah (42-19) last season.
Eastern Hancock’s last MEC title came in 2019. The Royals have won 10 conference championships in four different leagues. The 2019 championship is the lone title in the MEC. They won four Big Blue River Conference championships in 1971, 1976, 1977 and 1980. They were winners of the White River Athletic Conference in 1995, 1998 and 2000 and the Mid-Indiana Football Conference in 2013 and 2015.
With a win Friday, New Palestine clinches a part of the HHC title for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons. Since 2013, the Dragons are 72-2 in HHC games with the only losses coming to Mt. Vernon.
The Dragons have won 22 conference championships, 12 in the HHC, two in the Rangeline Conference (1991, 1992) and eight in the BBRC (1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988).
Greenfield-Central last won a conference title in 2002 (HHC). They also won the Central Suburban Athletic Conference in 1973.
Mt. Vernon (3-4, 2-3) is out of the HHC race, but it is in that category of wanting to finish strong with the postseason around the corner.
The Marauders travel to Shelbyville (3-4, 1-4) Friday looking for back-to-back victories for the first time this season. Mt. Vernon won 51-21 at New Castle last week.
Attention will switch to the postseason briefly before teams end regular season play on Oct. 13. On Sunday, the IHSAA will announce sectional pairings at 6 p.m. at ihsaatv.org.
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Friday’s Games
7 p.m. – Delta at Greenfield-Central
7 p.m. – Eastern Hancock at Shenandoah
7 p.m. – Mt. Vernon at Shelbyville
7 p.m. – New Castle at New Palestine
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Game Capsules
Class 3A No. 16 (AP) Delta (5-2, 3-2) at Class 4A No. 6 (IFCA), No. 8 (AP) Greenfield-Central (6-1, 4-1)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Chris Overholt, 48-35 in 8th year at Delta. Travis Nolting 25-23 in 5th year at Greenfield-Central, 85-51 in 13th year overall.
Recent history: Delta has dominated the overall history of the series (28-2), but Greenfield-Central has won the last two, 28-14 at G-C in 2021 and 28-6 at Delta last season.
Sagarin ratings: Delta, 65.61, 79th overall, 14th in 3A. Greenfield-Central, 77.72, 33rd overall, 6th in 4A.
Players to watch: Delta – WR D’Amare Hood, RB Nolan Carpenter, WR Jonny Manor, RB Kaiden Bond, DL Braxton Russell, DE/TE Landon Brooks, DB Zane Cline, QB Bronson Edwards. 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, OL/DL Reese Hill, OL Brayden Flener, K/P/DB Aaron Lee, WR Boston Willard, DE Zach Blevens.
What to look for: Both teams won their first four games. Delta has lost two of its last three, both on the road, at Mt. Vernon (31-20), and last week at Pendleton Heights (28-23). G-C bounced back from a 21-14 loss to New Palestine with a road win at Yorktown (35-30) Friday. Delta has been balanced on offense all season with 12 rushing touchdowns and 12 passing touchdowns. The Eagles have rushed for 1,273 yards and passed for 1,258. The Cougars have been a little heavier on the run (1,917), as is expected with the Wishbone offense, but Freeman has been a double-threat at the QB position with 14 TD passes and a team-high 477 rushing yards and 7 rushing TDs. The G-C defense has been strong led by Blevens up front, Jake Hinton at LB and Knecht, who leads the county with 4 INTs.
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Eastern Hancock (4-3, 2-0) at Shenandoah (1-6, 0-1)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Pat Echeverria, 32-23, in 5th year at Eastern Hancock, 64-79 in 13th year overall. Jake Stilwell, 11-16 in 3rd year at Shenandoah.
Recent history: Along with meeting yearly during the regular season, the rivals played in the 2020 postseason. The Royals won in 2021, but the Raiders have won three of the last four meetings.
Sagarin ratings: Eastern Hancock, 44.49, 177th overall, 29th in 2A. Shenandoah, 30.07, 237th overall, 43rd in 2A.
Players to watch: Eastern Hancock — RB Mark Kube, DB Caiden Willis, LB Gabe Johnson, QB Elijah Edon, WR/S Cam Volz, WR/DB Dylan Bowman, NG/T Logan Hoskins, TE Kayden Ruble, WR Eli Manship, OLB Evan Wheeler, LB Ayden Trueblood. Shenandoah – RB/DB Evan Fries, RB/DB Jarrett Helman, DB Hayden Hubbard, DL Gaje Zachary, QB Ethan Loy.
What to look for: Eastern Hancock has a chance to become the outright champion of the Mid-Eastern Conference. It got momentum after a conference win last week against Monroe Central. The Royals want sole possession of the league crown, and would love to get it done in Middletown. QB Edon threw for 239 yards last week and has thrown five TD passes in the last three weeks. The Royals will need to keep an eye out for Hubbard, who has 5 INTs. Kube gets it done on the ground, too. He had 93 rushing yards and his 12th TD last week. He has had at least one TD in each of the Royals seven games. Shenandoah has struggled this year. After winning 28-7 in the opener over Fremont, the Raiders have lost six straight. Five times they’ve scored less than 10 points.
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Mt. Vernon (3-4, 2-3) at Shelbyville (3-4, 1-4)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Vince Lidy, 23-9 in 3rd year at Mt. Vernon. Scott Fitzgerald, 3-4 in 1st year at Shelbyville.
Recent history: The Marauders, like many in the Hoosier Heritage Conference, have taken advantage of some tough times of late for the Golden Bears. Mt. Vernon has won seven straight in the series and have scored at least 49 points in six of them. Three were shutouts.
Sagarin ratings: Mt. Vernon 70.27 59th overall, 16th in 4A. Shelbyville 49.18, 150th overall, 39th in 4A
Players to watch: Mt. Vernon — QB Luke Ertel, WR/KR Tre Jones, OL/DL Roland Trimble, RB Joliba Brogan, RB/DB DJ Johnson, WR Chris Edmonds, DL Shawn Taylor, TE/QB/DE Tyler Etherington, LB Christian Kiptoo, LB Corbin May. Shelbyville – QB/FS Eli Chappelow, WR Luke Brinkman, OLB/RB Axel Conover, MLB Brayden Schultz, DT Jaylen Sturgill, WR/S Grantland Fitzgerald, RB Donavon Martin, LB Julian Eads.
What to look for: After scoring just 10 points in a loss to Pendleton Heights in Week 6, the Marauders offense got back on track with a 51-21 win at New Castle. Brogan was huge against the Trojans, running for 232 yards and five touchdowns. He’s scored six straight weeks and has had three multi-score games. Jones is a big weapon, too. According to MaxPreps.com, Jones’s 735 return yards (on kickoffs and punts) is top’s in the nation. His 27.08 average on kick returns is 11th. Shelbyville continues to show improvement as a program, but is feeling the strength of the HHC in recent weeks with losses to Greenfield-Central, Yorktown and New Palestine in its last three games.
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New Castle (1-6, 0-5) at Class 4A No. 3 (IFCA), No. 7 (AP) New Palestine (5-2, 5-0)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Kyle York, 26-45 in 7th year at New Castle. Kyle Ralph 121-13 in 11th year at New Palestine.
Recent history: The Dragons have won all 10 meetings and by an average score of 55-8.
Sagarin ratings: New Castle, 44.8, 174th overall, 43rd in 4A. New Palestine, 85.05, 18th overall, 2nd in 4A.
Players to watch: New Castle – DB/WR/RB Tylin Thrine, QB Tyson Lewis, FS/WR/PR Cade Logston, LB/DB/RB Landon Semler, DL Christian Wagers, DE/RB Brenndon Thompson. New Palestine — RB/LS Grayson Thomas, OL/DL Ian Moore, OL/DL Brock Brownfield, RB/WR Kyler Kropp, WR/DB Mason Hiatt, QB Gavin Neal, LB Josh Ranes, LB Garrett Ranes, DB Caden Jacobia, DL Abe Walling, LB Mason Oglesby, WR Ty Mitchell.
What to look for: The Dragons will celebrate their 12 seniors on Senior Night and should add to the celebration by clinching a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference championship. The Dragons, after opening losses to state-ranked Class 6A (Westfield) and 5A (Decatur Central) foes, they’ve won five straight. RB Thomas has 15 touchdowns in seven games, including five multi-score games. He scored three times in last week’s 49-7 win over Shelbyville. Soph QB Neal, after opening his high school career against Westfield and Decatur Central, (0 TDs, 3 INTs), has thrown for eight scores and just two picks. Frosh Oglesby had 12 tackles in his varsity debut two weeks against at G-C. He followed up with four stops and two hurries against the Golden Bears.
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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;7;69;112;1014;.616;144.9;14;4;115.8
Gavin Neal, New Palestine;7;42;78;949;.538;135.6;8;5;105.1
Luke Ertel, Mt. Vernon;7;88;148;1181;.595;168.7;10;3;99.0
Elijah Edon, Eastern Hancock;7;86;140;1129;.614;161.3;8;5;91.0
RUSHING
Name, School;G;CAR;YDS;AVG;Y/G;TD
Grayson Thomas, New Palestine;7;182;1266;7.0;180.9;15
Joliba Brogan, Mt. Vernon;7;142;1025;7.2;146.4;14
Mark Kube, Eastern Hancock;7;105;707;6.7;101.0;12
Braylen Benavente, Greenfield-Central;5;97;470;4.8;94.0;1
Dallas Freeman, Greenfield-Central;7;76;477;6.3;68.1;7
RECEIVING
Name, School;G;REC;YDS;AVG;Y/G;TD
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;7;24;508;21.2;72.6;7
Kyler Kropp, New Palestine;7;19;493;25.9;70.4;4
Eli Manship, Eastern Hancock;6;24;368;15.3;61.3;2
Tre Jones, Mt. Vernon;7;24;359;15.0;51.3;5
Chris Edmonds, Mt. Vernon;6;15;281;18.7;46.8;1
TACKLES
Name, School;G;S;A;T;T/G;TFL
Gabe Johnson, Eastern Hancock;7;49;20;69;9.9;9.5
Garrett Ranes, New Palestine;7;42;23;65;9.3;9.0
Josh Ranes, New Palestine;7;39;22;61;8.7;9.0
Jake Hinton, Greenfield-Central;7;40;17;57;8.1;10.0
Ayden Trueblood, Eastern Hancock;7;25;32;57;8.1;3.0
SACKS
Name, School;G;S;S/G
Ian Moore, New Palestine;6;3.0;0.5
Christian Kiptoo, Mt. Vernon;7;3.0;0.4
Shawn Taylor, Mt. Vernon;7;3.0.4
Evan Wheeler, Eastern Hancock;7;3.0;0.4
Luke Hankley, Mt. Vernon;4;2.0;0.5
INTERCEPTIONS
Name, School;G;I;I/G
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;7;4;0.6
Caiden Willis, Eastern Hancock;7;3;0.4
Mason Hiatt, New Palestine;7;3;0.4
Caden Jacobia, New Palestine;7;2;0.3
Cameron Volz, Eastern Hancock;7;2;0.3
Dylan Bowman, Eastern Hancock;7;2;0.3
Tre Jones, Mt. Vernon;7;2;0.3
PUNTING
Name, School;P;YDS;AVE
Aaron Redmon, Eastern Hancock;13;529;40.7
Jake Wells, New Palestine;16;503;31.4
John Duncan, Mt. Vernon;23;706;30.7
Aaron Lee, Greenfield-Central;7;170;24.3
RETURN YARDS
Name, School;K;P;T
Tre Jones, Mt. Vernon;677;58;735
Cameron Volz, Eastern Hancock;187;110;297
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;240;30;270
Kyler Kropp, New Palestine;188;0;188
Dylan Bowman, Eastern Hancock;133;0;133
SCORING
Name, School;G;TD;CONV;S;K;TP;P/G
Grayson Thomas, New Palestine;7;15;0;0;0;90;12.9
Joliba Brogan, Mt. Vernon;7;14;0;0;0;84;12.0
Mark Kube, Eastern Hancock;7;12;0;0;0;72;10.3
Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;7;10;2;0;0;62;8.9
Kyler Kropp, New Palestine;7;9;0;0;0;54;7.7
Jake Hinton, Greenfield-Central;7;9;0;0;0;54;7.7
