After a grueling first half where both teams pounded the ball right up the middle of the field, over and over and over again, it seemed likely that one of them would wear down in the second half, turning a 7-6 game into a larger margin of victory.
Conventional wisdom would tell you that the Class 5A New Palestine Dragons would be that team, faced with the incredible task of trying to knock off the Class 6A Center Grove Trojans on their home field.
The Trojans started two 305-pound players on their offensive line and another that weighs in at 320. They absolutely dwarfed the Dragons defensive line — really, they dwarfed them almost everywhere on the field — and that o-line helped Center Grove hold the ball for a huge portion of the first half with two seven-plus minute drives.
The Dragons should have gotten tired, should have gotten sloppy, should have started making mistakes.
They never did.
New Palestine proved conventional wisdom wrong, and it was remarkable to witness. Despite facing a relentless rushing attack from a juggernaut of an offense, the Dragons got stronger as the game went on. The Red Rage defense stood tall, never letting the Trojans into the end zone. The offense started to find more and more running room.
As Dragons senior Maxen Hook said to me after the game, that’s just conditioning, man.
Head coach Kyle Ralph and his staff have prioritized their strength and conditioning program ever since he arrived in New Palestine, and the results were on display, possibly more clearly than they ever have been, Friday night in Greenwood.
When so many others would have worn down, when so many others would have failed against the sheer size and strength and skill of the Center Grove players lined up across from them, the Dragons did the opposite. They instead battered Center Grove, blowing them out for the second straight year and solidifying themselves as the top team in all of Indiana in the latest Sagarin rankings.
While the Trojans have so many players that they can each play one position, the Dragons don’t have that luxury. Kyle King played the entire game in the trenches, yet manhandled the Trojans on both sides of the ball. Hook did the same, making an impact all night on defense while also making two crucial catches on offense, including a long touchdown to break the game open.
Most of the starting secondary played on both sides of the ball. Matt Brown, who also lined up across from the massive Trojans offensive line, played on offense, too.
It was a Herculean effort by not just those players, but the entire Dragons program. For some reason, to some people across the state, New Palestine needed to prove itself this year. People doubted them, despite a 14-0 season a year ago, a 5A championship and a dominant win against Center Grove.
If you thought any of that was a fluke, you were wrong. Friday night, proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. This team is as good as, if not better, than advertised. They will be favorites the rest of the season, probably by a large margin, as they should be.
I watched a year ago as the Dragons literally ran Center Grove off of Shepler Field, embarrassing the Trojans so badly that they bolted to their bus as soon as they finished shaking hands. By the time I got down to the field from the press box, they were long gone.
Not a lot of people probably expected the Dragons do the same thing to the Trojans on their home field, yet here we are. The Trojans wanted to get off that field and quickly bolted for their locker rooms after Friday’s 28-9 loss after failing to get their revenge from last year.
Put this in perspective: Warren Central, last year’s 6A champion and widely regarded as the best team in the state a year ago, barely squeaked by the Trojans in the 2018 semistate round. They barely got past the Trojans again in Week 1 of this season.
The Dragons just walloped the Trojans again. It was close for a while, and then it wasn’t.
If you were there Friday night, you saw a testament to the incredible amount of work the New Palestine football program puts in every day. You saw the same incredible coaching that has helped guide the Dragons to 56 straight regular-season wins.
You saw a team that deserves its spot at the top. They aren’t likely to relinquish it any time soon.