For the Daily Reporter
ZIONSVILLE — The New Palestine Dragons didn’t collect a trophy for their sectional-opening victory against Zionsville Friday night.
But they had one waiting back at Kelso Stadium — a pirate flag the Zionsville Eagles had planted after their sectional victory against the Dragons a year ago.
That flag was turned to ashes when the Dragons returned home, the exclamation point on New Palestine’s 29-17 victory against the host Eagles in the IHSAA Class 5A Sectional 12 semifinal.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
New Palestine will play for the sectional championship next Friday against Anderson (3-7) at Kelso Stadium.
To get there, the Dragons had to control a talented Zionsville team that sported several players being recruited by NCAA Division I teams, a team that upset New Palestine 26-24 in last year’s sectional. The Dragons controlled the opening quarter with their ground game, taking a 14-0 lead after 12 minutes. Afterwards, they responded each time Zionsville counter-punched.
“1-0 feels real good right now,” New Palestine coach Kyle Ralph said. “I’m so proud of our kids. We were playing so many guys both ways tonight to maximize what we do, to put our best athletes on the field and limit their Division I kids to really a lot of minimal gains, made them move the chains. That’s a game you want to be a part of. That’s a game you’re not going to forget.
“It was a gritty, gritty finish. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t clean, but our kids pulled somewhere deep down inside of them and got a great win tonight.”
New Palestine junior running back Charlie Spegal ran for 138 yards and four touchdowns, while quarterback Zach Neligh ran for 118 yards and threw for 135 in the victory. Spegal capped back-to-back drives with 1-yard plunges to give New Palestine an early lead.
In the second half, the name of the game for the Dragons was resilience. Each Zionsville punch resulted in a response by the Dragons.
With New Palestine nursing a 22-17 lead in the game’s closing minutes, Ryker Large put an exclamation point on the victory. The Dragons were looking to answer an Eagle score for the second time in the half, and they had driven the ball to midfield thanks to a 14-yard run by Spegal.
Neligh found Large in traffic, who made a catch at the Eagles’ 29 and held on after taking a big hit. It led to Spegal’s fourth TD of the night, a 1-yard run, which gave New Palestine a 29-17 lead.
“Ryker’s a kid who did not come off the field tonight,” Ralph said. “He played against a Division I wide receiver tonight (Jordan Hull) and held him to one catch, and then he plays on all of our special teams and played receiver. There we are in the fourth quarter when most kids’ gas tank is empty and can’t do those things, he runs a beautiful route at full speed, makes an incredible catch while he’s getting hit, that really essentially wins us that game.
“That was a huge gainer for us. I’m so proud of our kids for what they do and how hard the play for each other and their execution levels. That’s one that stands out, but we’ve had a lot of those moments this season. That’s just another example of what we do.”
Zionsville used its running game effectively to drive inside the Dragons’ 30 on three consecutive drives. Eagle freshman Colin Price ran for 169 yards on 25 carries — including 115 after halftime. A 32-yard pass to Joel DeCoursey set Zionsville up on the Dragons’ 10 on the first possession of the second half, but New Palestine held the Eagles to a field goal.
The Dragons then responded with a 30-yard run by Neligh on the next play, setting up an 80-yard march capped by Spegal’s 7-yard run that put New Palestine up 22-10. The Dragons then stopped Zionsville on downs inside the 20 on the next possession, but then had to punt it back.
Price punctuated the ensuing drive with a 5-yard TD to cut the lead to 22-17 with 8:27 left before New Palestine responded again.
While Price ran for 169 yards, New Palestine held the Eagles to 319 yards on 62 plays, and only one went for more than 25 yards. New Palestine gained 390 yards of offense, with 255 coming on the ground.
“They’re so hard to defend,” Ralph said, ticking off Zionsville’s many playmakers. “It was such a difficult gameplan for our kids to handle. I’m so proud of them for the way they did. Our red zone defense was incredibly efficient, which is huge in these games.
“Defensively, to give that team that few a points with the weapons they have, — we played six guys both ways tonight — it was just spectacular.”
The Dragons led 16-7 going into halftime — the host Eagles answered New Palestine’s second TD with a 16-play, 64-yard march that ended in a fourth-down TD run by Garrett Williamson, but a bad snap on a Zionsville punt resulted in a safety, giving New Palestine a two-score edge at the break, setting the tone for the second half.
“That game tonight, it’s unfortunate that game had to be in the opening round,” Ralph said. “That had every bit of a sectional championship, regional championship, semistate championship feel to it. That was an incredible ballgame. The challenge is for our emotions to stay up. We’re still the top dog and everyone wants to knock us off. We’ve got to stay focused on the task at hand. A week where you don’t do that is a huge setback in the playoffs.”
Notes: The Dragons will be seeking their 10th sectional championship in program history next week, and their first since 2015. New Palestine has won sectional titles in 1987, 1989-90, 2004-05, 2009 and 2013-15. … Spegal’s four TDs give him 53 touchdowns and 320 points for the season, the seventh-most points in IHSAA history in a single season. He moved up nine places during Friday’s game. Sheridan’s Brett Law holds the state record with 453 points in 1988. … Spegal moved into 12th place on the state career rushing yards list with 6,645. He needs 40 yards to move into 11th. … Neligh ran for 100 and threw for 100 for the second time this season. He became the second Dragon to pass the 5,000-yard mark in career total offense.
