NEW PALESTINE — It was the first day of full-contact drills last summer, and Maxen Hook was looking forward to going up against his team’s new running back.
Delta transfer Charlie Spegal was finally in pads with his new team, and the hard-hitting Hook, a defensive back for New Palestine’s football team, had him in his sights.
He had no idea what was heading his way.
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“I’m coming across, I see him cut up the middle, and I was like, oh my gosh. Two guys, me and Brody (Luker) are going to hit him at the same time. We’re going to destroy him,” Hook said. “I hit him, maybe one of the hardest hits of all season, just straight, right to the chest. He didn’t really budge. Super loud crack, I turn around thinking I probably knocked him down … No. He’s standing in the end zone. I’m like, are you kidding me?”
That run serves as a microcosm of what opponents ran into all season against Spegal. The Dragons junior piled up eye-popping stats in helping lead the team to its second state title in school history.
“It was like running into a wall,” Hook added. “I figured I knocked the wall down. I turn around and he’s standing straight up. Brody is laying there on the ground, he twisted his knee on the play. We hit so hard, and Charlie’s just like, ‘OK, next play, let’s go.’ He wasn’t even fazed.”
What Hook felt is probably similar to what opponents felt all season long against the Dragons. Spegal ran through tackle after tackle, powering his way to touchdown after touchdown.
When all was said and done, Spegal had run for 3,356 yards and scored a combined 70 touchdowns this season, numbers that vaulted him quickly into the record books. Those stats were first in the entire nation and earned him a spot on the Indiana Football Coaches Association All-State Top 50 team.
For his efforts, for the incredible season Spegal had, he has earned the honor of Hancock County Offensive Player of the Year.
“It feels like something special,” Spegal said of the season he had. “It just makes me more appreciative of the offensive line, the tight ends, the receivers, and Zach (Neligh). Zach had a big job. He pretty much called the plays, if we had a check he’d check to the right play. The defense, too. They shut ‘em down and quickly got the offense back on the field.”
Football family
Spegal started playing football when he was in second grade.
He did so against kids who were older and bigger than him. He loved it.
In the Delta area, the football program didn’t have a league for second-graders when he was growing up. His older brother, Joe, was playing with fourth- and fifth-graders at the time.
Charlie’s dad, Chris, got him suited up as a second-grader and had him practice with the older kids. It didn’t take long for the love of football to grow.
“That’s when I first started liking it,” Spegal said. “I just like hitting people, being physical. Then, in second grade, I started tackling fourth- and fifth-graders, and I felt really cool. It just kind of went on from there. I wanted to be like Joe. That’s what pushed me a lot, to work hard like I do. I always wanted to be better than Joe, have better stats.”
Spegal’s older brother had an impressive career at Delta himself. As a senior, he led the Hoosier Heritage Conference in rushing and set school records for yards in a season, touchdowns in a season and career rushing yards.
Just as quickly as Joe Spegal set those records, Charlie Spegal started breaking them.
His younger brother needed little time to surpass him and accomplish his goal of having better stats. Joe’s record of yards was 1,990. Charlie just missed as a freshman, with 1,958, and proceeded to blow that record out of the water as a sophomore, running for 2,385 yards.
He also broke his older brother’s touchdown record as a sophomore, with 33 TDs topping Joe’s 30.
One thing Charlie always wanted to do was play on a team with his older brother. He didn’t get that chance — Joe graduated before Charlie became a freshman — but he gets to share most of his high school football career with his younger brothers, Dave and Devon.
He’s close to all his brothers — “We’re best friends,” Charlie said — and Joe makes a point of coming to all of the Dragons games to cheer on the team.
Charlie may not have gotten to play with Joe, but he got to share an incredible experience with his two younger brothers this year. The three Spegal brothers became state champions together, along with their New Palestine teammates.
“I thought it was really awesome,” Spegal said. “I’ve always wanted to play with Joe, I wanted to be on the same team as him. Then having Dave and Devon with me on the same team, it’s pretty cool to win state together. It’s something we’ll talk about years down the road.”
Moving time
Getting to New Palestine, becoming a member of the Dragons, meant a total upheaval of his life.
When he found out the family was moving and he’d have to change schools, Spegal wasn’t exactly excited.
“I was shocked. Honestly at first, I didn’t want to move. I was happy where I was,” Spegal said. “We didn’t have success at Delta like New Pal did, but I was having good years and my best friends are at Delta. I didn’t really want to come at first, but I got here and now I don’t want to leave. I made a lot of friends here; everybody is so nice, they welcomed me.
“It feels like I’ve been here all my life.”
There was a pretty big learning curve awaiting Spegal when he got to New Palestine. Aside from having to fit in, make new friends and get comfortable changing environments halfway through high school, he also had a lot of learning to do on the football field.
Becoming a member of the Dragons meant a new system, new coaches, new teammates. He had to learn new plays, learn new practice habits, battle for a position on the roster.
Spegal came in, got right to work and started learning.
“For a lot of people, that’s really hard to be successful in, especially with how successful our program has been. From the outside looking in, it can be really intimidating,” New Palestine coach Kyle Ralph said of Spegal transferring. “He was a really hard worker when he got here. I think the best part about it was how willing he was to learn. I think he came in here with the right mindset of this is a very new experience, and I really need to listen and learn if I’m going to be successful here.”
There were more position-specific things Spegal needed to learn or work on.
His coach said that Spegal had to work on footwork, hand placement, pre-snap blocking assignments, pass and run blocking, along with other intricacies of the position.
There’s a difference between being a ball carrier and a running back, Ralph said. Spegal figured that out pretty quickly.
“Anybody that’s a good athlete honestly can carry a football, but it takes a lot to be a good running back,” he said. “I think as the season went on, you saw that progression from, ‘I’m a ball carrier’ to ‘I’m a running back.’”
That led to one special season for Spegal and the Dragons.
Making history
In his football career, Ralph has seen a lot of fantastic players and seasons, whether as a player himself, in his six years as head coach at New Palestine or simply as a fan.
As coach of the Dragons, he witnessed Alex Neligh’s senior season in 2015, a year where the quarterback threw for 2,852 yards, 36 touchdowns and just three interceptions, while also running for 2,097 and 37 touchdowns.
He’s coached Sterling Curran, who broke the school tackles record with 157 in 2014. Gabe Estes was on that same team, compiling 127 tackles and a ridiculous 46 tackles for a loss. There was Brian Wagner and Noah Grable in 2013, who combined to set a new school record of 18 sacks each.
What he saw from Spegal this season stands out to the two-time state champion coach.
“It’s gotta be one of the most incredible seasons I’ve ever seen,” Ralph said. “It’s probably one of the 10 best seasons in the history of the game of football at the high school level in this country, as far as what the statistics show. Obviously, to cap it with a state championship, I think he would trade all of that for that state championship. When you look at what he’s done this year, it’s got to be one of the best performances from a kid in a season that I’ve ever been a part of, and maybe that I ever will be a part of.
“This year with Charlie was just something special to be a part of.”
Spegal’s 68 rushing touchdowns set a new state record for running backs, as did his 70 total touchdowns.
He set multiple New Palestine records, including single-season rushing yards, rushing TDs, total TDs, total points, rushing touchdowns in a game, rushing yards in a game and total touchdowns in a game.
His 7,699 career rushing yards are third in state history. Spegal has his entire senior season ahead of him and only 412 yards standing between him and that record.
He didn’t quite carry the Dragons on his back this season — the team surrounding him is filled with talented players — but it was a staggering season no matter how you look at it.
“It’s a great feeling blocking for someone that runs for his team and his family,” New Palestine junior Kyle King said. “He’s out here doing what he does, and he ran through multiple guys because he knows his community is out here supporting him. Everybody is on his back. We’re all a family and he’s just out here doing his thing.”
Spegal said he is itching to get back into the weight room — the team is taking a few weeks off after the championship win — and get back to work. He’s getting bored at home without football, without lifting.
He’ll keep up the hard work in school, where he’s currently maintaining all A’s, and when he has time away from football or studying, he can be found playing basketball with friends or other outdoor activities like fishing or four-wheeling.
He has big goals for the future — there’s another state championship to win, after all — but for now, he couldn’t have asked for a more perfect finish to his first season as a Dragon.
“It just feels really good to know that you come back as a state champion, which is something that you’ve worked extremely hard for,” Spegal said. “I got here in April and I worked really hard with my teammates to achieve that goal.
“It’s incredible. Best way to end it.”
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Charlie Spegal’s first season at New Palestine was a run through the history books, as he made his mark at the state and school levels.
State records:
Rushing TDs in season, 68
Total TDs in season, 70
School records:
Rush yards in season, 3,356
Rush yards in game, 387
Career rushing TDs, 68
Single-season rushing TDs, 68
Single-game rushing TDs, 7
Single-game total TDs, 8
Single-season scoring, 422 points
Career scoring, 422 points
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See who joins Charlie Spegal on the all-county offensive team inside on Page B4.
Make sure to grab a copy of Wednesday’s Daily Reporter for our Defensive Player of the Year story and the reveal of our all-county defense and special teams choices.
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