NEW PALESTINE — The Dragons came out on absolute fire Friday.
With the Class 5A state runner-up Kokomo Wildkats in town for a Week 1 showdown between Top 10 teams, New Palestine made a huge first-quarter statement on its way to a rout.
New Palestine scored touchdowns on all 10 first-half possessions, taking a 70-0 lead into the half on its way to a 77-0 win Friday night — an emphatic start to a promising regular season.
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Dragons newcomer Charlie Spegal led the way, getting the start at running back and wasting no time making his presence known.
An all-state runner at Delta last year, Spegal set a school record in less than a half of football for New Palestine, pushing the Dragons out to the massive halftime lead.
“It meant a lot,” Spegal said of his first game as a Dragon. “I came in not knowing if I was going to get a spot or not. I knew I had to compete for it. I worked for it, I got it. I want to thank my offensive line — they did an amazing job. Amazing job blocking for me.”
Spegal’s first carry went 42 yards. His second was a 6-yard touchdown. His third carry went 26 yards and led to a Zach Neligh rushing TD.
After a modest 3-yard run, Spegal broke through the middle for 25 yards and another TD. Another Kokomo punt led to another Spegal TD, this time from 8 yards out. A Dragons fumble recovery led to yet another Spegal TD run, from 12 yards out. He added a 10-yard TD scramble near the end of the first quarter.
One quarter into the season, Spegal had 10 carries for 140 yards and 5 TDs. The Dragons had a 32-0 lead, six rushing TDs, interceptions by Luke Canfield and Brody Luker, and a fumble recovery by Luke Ely. The Dragons were officially on cruise control from there.
New Palestine figured to have a prolific running offense, with Spegal coming off a massive year at Delta and Canfield and Neligh each far surpassing 1,000 yards for the Dragons last year.
Spegal just kept going after his big first quarter. He finished the first half with 18 carries for 221 yards and 7 TDs, a New Palestine record for scores in a game.
“He did a nice job,” New Palestine coach Kyle Ralph said of Spegal. “Obviously, he’s a great runner, but I think what I’m happiest about tonight is when we called his number to pass protect and block, I thought he did a great job in there. He’s starting to become much more of a complete back, which is going to make our team so much better as a whole.”
Behind Spegal’s running, New Palestine scored 10 first-half touchdowns and had 17 first downs to Kokomo’s two while out-gaining the visitors 410 yards to 54.
Neligh had a strong first half passing, completing 9 of 10 for 172 yards and 2 TDs. Matt Brown had five catches for 126 yards and Eric Roudebush and Colby Jenkins each had two catches and a TD.
The second half was a quick one, as a running clock was employed and the Dragons pulled their starting offense and defense. The highlight of the half for the Dragons was a 37-yard pass from third QB Chris Guhl to Grant Wiegand. Guhl scored on a 3-yard TD run to finish out the scoring just a few plays later.
“We felt pretty confident coming into it,” Ralph said. “Kokomo’s a great program. They lost a great senior class last year, they’re going to rebuild a little bit.”
New Palestine’s defense was dominant for most of the game, picking up the two first-half interceptions and sacks from Kyle King and Aven Jones.
The Dragons first-team defense allowed just 54 yards on 31 plays in the first half. The backups were almost as good against the Wildkats’ first-team offense in the second half, keeping the visitors off the scoreboard.
C.J. Faubion led the Dragons with five tackles, one for a loss. Maxen Hook had four tackles and several Dragons had three.
“We’re not really big, we’re not huge, but we’re fast,” Ralph said of his defense. “I thought our team speed was really good tonight, our gang tackling was really good tonight.
“We had a couple of turnovers as well. That’s a really nice night on defense for an opener.”
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Class 5A No. 3 New Palestine vs. Class 6A No. 6 Center Grove, 7:30 p.m.
Greenfield-Central at Whiteland, 7:30 p.m.
Mt. Vernon vs. Marion, 7 p.m.
Eastern Hancock vs. Wes-Del, 7 p.m.
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