NEW PALESTINE — The Dragons aren’t backing down from anybody.
Riding the longest regular-season winning streak in the state at 45 games, New Palestine opens its 2018 campaign with two of Indiana’s elite teams in Kokomo and Center Grove.
Kokomo was the state runner-up in Class 5A last year. Center Grove is a premier team in Class 6A. But when the phone rang, Dragons head coach Kyle Ralph didn’t hesitate to say yes to either match-up.
“Challenge presented and challenge accepted,” Ralph said. “It was an opportunity for us to play two outstanding programs, and that’s the way I saw it. It definitely adds a lot more excitement to the start of your season when you’ve got two major obstacles standing right in your way that you’re going to have to compete with.”
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New Palestine is clearly an elite team in its own right, winning a state title in 2014 and dominating the Hoosier Heritage Conference, winning 34 HHC games in a row, the longest streak in conference history.
In his first five seasons, Ralph’s Dragons have gone 60-4. Their lone blemish last season was a 26-24 heart breaker against Zionsville in the sectional championship.
They outscored their opponents 525 to 134 in 2017, averaging 47.7 points per game.
This year’s team, though, is shaping up to be something special. They could be even better than the team that was utterly dominant until falling to Zionsville.
“It’s the strongest team that we’ve had here in my six years,” Ralph said. “The chemistry and the camaraderie is just off the charts. It’s been a great summer, a great offseason, it’s been a good camp so far. We really tried to put them through the gauntlet this summer to push those guys and see what they had. That experience really paid off a lot. Expectations are very, very high.”
Having almost its entire starting lineup from last season is a huge boon for New Palestine. Last year’s team had just seven seniors, which gives the Dragons nine starters back on offense and eight on defense.
Their quarterback, Zach Neligh, is back for his senior year. The entire offensive line, both running backs and their top wide receiver are all back.
The Dragons already were loaded on offense. Added to this year’s mix is junior running back Charlie Spegal, a transfer from Delta.
Spegal was an all-state selection in Class 4A last year after rushing for 2,385 yards and 33 touchdowns. He ran for just shy of 2,000 yards as a freshman.
He joins junior running back Luke Canfield in the backfield to form what is likely the state’s most dangerous running duo. Canfield rushed for 1,764 yards and 29 touchdowns last year in earning all-state honors himself in Class 5A.
And don’t forget Neligh, the senior quarterback who ran for 1,130 yards and 13 touchdowns himself last year.
“It’s kind of a spoil of riches when you’ve got three all-state caliber players standing there in the backfield in Zach, Luke and Charlie,” Ralph said.
The three have bought into whatever makes the offense the best, Ralph said. Some people will get more carries some nights, but they all accept that a touchdown for one is a touchdown for all.
New Palestine figures to score plenty of touchdowns again this season, as the team has scored more than 500 points for five straight years. They were an explosive team in 2017, with 15 touchdowns of 35 yards or more, and they averaged 305.7 yards rushing per game on 7.0 yards per carry.
“We have a lot of returners, a couple of new guys,” senior receiver Colby Jenkins, another all-state selection from last year, said. “We gel well. We’re quick. We have a lot of smart players — we know where to be, what hole to fill, and we get open.”
Having the entire offensive line back, led by senior Austin Keele, a four-year starter and all-state the past two years, will help the Dragons on their quest to repeat that level of offensive success.
“Our line is picking up more complicated blitzes, wide receivers are running better routes, running backs are having better breaks,” Neligh said. “Everybody is really maturing, making a lot of progress.”
The same can be said of the defense.
Last year’s unit allowed just 141 yards per game and held three teams to negative rushing yards while racking up 32 sacks and 20 interceptions. Josh Glover, the Hancock County Defensive Player of the Year, has graduated. So did all-star defensive end Landan Burton.
But most of the rest of the defense returns.
Junior Kyle King is back on the defensive line, and will be joined by seniors Keele and Tyler Horsley.
Defensive leader and four-year starter Luke Ely returns for his senior season. Ely, who was an all-state selection as a sophomore, had 63 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and led the Dragons with 7.5 sacks last season.
He’ll be joined in the linebacker corps by fellow senior C.J. Faubion, who started the past two seasons.
On the back end of the defense, brothers Kade and Ryker Large, juniors, both return. Ryker Large led the HHC in interceptions last year, with six, which was the fourth most in the state in Class 5A.
The Dragons’ lone all-state defender last season, Maxen Hook, is also back for his junior season.
Like the offense, the defense is filled with players who have a lot of experience playing with one another and playing against a high-level of competition.
“Our chemistry on the defense is really good right now,” Ely said. “We all get along together, but we still have a lot of room to improve. We’ve got to work on the small things to make a big difference.”
Heading into his sixth year, Ralph said that the team’s overall chemistry is what makes them truly special this year. The win streaks aren’t important to him, but he does attribute the success the team has had in his tenure to the amount of focus and work the players have put in.
The Dragons don’t overlook people, he said, so nobody sneaks up on them or catches them off guard.
That includes week one opponent Kokomo, who the Dragons will welcome to Kelso Stadium for a game on their brand new FieldTurf, and week two opponent, Center Grove.
“Since we know that these teams are really tough and really good every year, we have just been working a lot harder and it just drives us more,” Ely said. “We know we have to prepare harder. The level of difficulty will be there right from the start. It’s a driving force for us to get better and go 1-0 every week.”
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Date;Opponent;Time
Aug. 17;Kokomo;7:30 p.m.
Aug. 24;Center Grove;7:30 p.m.
Aug. 31;at Yorktown;7:30 p.m.
Sept. 7;at Mt. Vernon;7:30 p.m.
Sept. 14;at Pendleton Heights;7:30 p.m.
Sept. 21;Greenfield-Central;7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28;at Shelbyville;7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5;at New Castle;7:30 p.m.
Oct. 12;Delta;7:30 p.m.
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Coach: Kyle Ralph (sixth year)
Last season: 10-1, 7-0 HHC; lost 26-24 to Zionsville in Class 5A sectional championship
Key returnees: OL/DL Austin Keele, LB Luke Ely, WR/DB Colby Jenkins, LB C.J. Faubion, seniors; TE/DB Maxen Hook, RB/DB Luke Canfield, OL/DL Kyle King, TE/DB Kade Large, WR/DB Ryker Large, juniors
Top newcomers: WR/DB Grant Weigand, OL/DL Tyler Horsley, seniors; RB/LB Charlie Spegal, WR/DB Jaaron Manley, WR/DB/P Eric Roudebush, juniors; WR/DB Blake Austin, TE/LB Matt Brown, sophomores
Outlook: While an undefeated regular season isn’t a guarantee with the opening gauntlet of Kokomo and Center Grove, New Palestine looks to be one of the best in Class 5A again this year. The Dragons have too much experience and depth back for a drop off. With six former all-state players in the lineup and the addition of Charlie Spegal, the Dragons should advance out of the sectional this year and could head deep into the state tournament.
Notable: Last year’s punter for the Dragons, Eric Roudebush, figures to see significantly more time this year. The junior is likely to be one of the Dragons starting wide receivers this year.
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