NEW PALESTINE — It was New Palestine defense at its best.
Dragons head football coach Kyle Ralph called it, “A hallmark effort.”
The Red Rage —the moniker of the Dragon defensive unit for decades — held previously-unbeaten and fifth-ranked Greenfield-Central to just four first downs, two were by penalty and one happened late in the game against second-stringers and a running clock, in a 38-0 Homecoming win at Kelso Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The game was postponed Friday due to remnants from Hurricane Helene that included heavy rain and high winds.
The Cougars came in averaging 41 points per game, but barely had that amount in total yardage, rushing for 36 yards and passing for nine. They also fumbled four times, losing three.
The Dragons ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, improved to 5-0 overall and are now the lone unbeaten team in the Hoosier Heritage Conference with a 4-0 record. The Cougars dropped to 5-1 and 3-1.
“The name of the game this week was execution and physicality,” Ralph said. “When you run the [Wishbone] offense, we told our boys we’re a talented team, but when you play an offense like theirs, it takes your talent out of the equation and you have to do your job. If you’re not in the right spot at the right time, how good you are as a player does not matter.
“You have to play unselfish and do your responsibility. [Defensive coordinator Scott McMurray] did a heckuva job getting our guys ready. They had a great week of practice this week and they performed that way.”
The Dragons led 17-0 at halftime, but it wasn’t because of a smooth-running offense. Four of six series ended on failed fourth-down conversions, but they had a 1-yard scoring play by running back Josh Ranes, who was the most successful of any offensive player on either side, with 18 first-half carries for 126 yards. The final Dragons series ended in a Jake Wells 31-yard field goal with four seconds left in the half.
“You can’t say enough about our defense,” Ralph added. “If [Greenfield-Central is] able to score the way they are used to we lose. Our offense was not good and did not hold up their end of the bargain. Holding an explosive offense to what we did — they’re one of the top scoring offenses in 4A — holding them to zero, it was a hallmark effort in my time here from our defense.”
In the first half, Greenfield-Central punted twice, turned it over on downs twice and lost fumbles twice, the latter of the two fumbles was a scoop and score from all-state defensive lineman Michael Thacker. He picked up a fumble and ran it in from 25 yards out. Mason Oglesby sacked Greenfield-Central quarterback Dallas Freeman on the play.
“I have to give it to my linebacker Alex Guhl,” Thacker said. “He called ‘yellow’ which sent everybody on a slant, it sent the backside linebacker [Oglesby] on a blitz and he came over hacked the ball, and the ball was at my feet and I picked it up and took it in. Guhl knew if he called that play something would be open and it came open. It felt amazing.”
Thacker, a senior who has started on the defensive line since his freshman year, said it was his first touchdown since eighth grade when he played both wide receiver and tight end on offense.
It was all defense and offensive mistakes for both teams in the opening half. The Dragons were called for eight first-quarter penalties, six were accepted, for 60 yards. Greenfield-Central committed four for 40. At halftime, the Dragons had accumulated nine penalties for 85 yards and finished the game with 11 accepted flags. Greenfield-Central was flagged eight times.
The Dragons offense scored touchdowns on three of their first four second-half possessions, while the Cougars punted four times and lost the ball on downs once.
“That’s a performance to be proud of,” Ralph added on the defense. “And they kept us in it long enough for our offense to figure out what we’re supposed to do in the game of football.”
Ranes finished the game with 24 carries for 183 yards and added a second touchdown on a 7-yard run in the third quarter. Quarterback Jacob Davis finished 1o-for-16 for 124 yards and a touchdown, a 22-yarder to Austin McMahan.
Caden Jacobia capped off the scoring with an 11-yard fourth-quarter run.
The Dragon defense slowed Freeman to just 3-for-10 passing for nine yards.
“I thought the defense played hard,” Greenfield-Central coach Travis Nolting said. “The offense didn’t put them in good situations at times and we couldn’t get anything going offensively to help the defense out in the situation when they did stop them.
“New Pal is New Pal. They are a great program. Their kids are tough. Their coaches are great and know what they’re doing. There’s a reason they’ve accomplished what they’ve accomplished as a program. We’re still working hard and still continuing to get better everyday. We’ll turn the page on this one and focus on next week.”
The Dragons have won 16 straight against the Cougars, dating back to 2011, and 17 straight regular-season games, dating back to 2007.
New Pal is 78-2 in HHC games since 2013 and have won 23 consecutive conference contests.
G-C is 17-4 in its last 21 games with all four losses coming to New Palestine, including a playoff loss in 2022, and its only losses in a 9-2 season last year.
Greenfield-Central’s last win in the rivalry series was a tournament victory in 2010, a 7-0 triumph after losing to New Pal 32-0 earlier that season.
New Palestine looks to continue its stretch of wins Friday at Shelbyville (1-5, 0-4). Greenfield-Central tries to get back on track playing host to Yorktown (4-2, 2-2).
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New Palestine 38, Greenfield-Central 0
Greenfield-Central (5-1, 3-1);0;0;0;0-;0
New Palestine (5-0, 4-0);7;10;14;7;-;38
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
NP – Josh Ranes 6 run (Jake Wells kick), 4:08
2nd Quarter
NP – Michael Thacker 25 fumble return (Wells kick)
NP – Wells 31 FG, :04
3rd Quarter
NP – Austin McMahan 22 pass from Jacob Davis (Wells kick), 9:04
NP – Ranes 7 run (Wells kick), 3:30
4th Quarter
NP – Caden Jacobia 11 run (Wells kick), 6:21
