FORTVILLE — The bus returning to New Palestine carried a little extra cargo.
In Hancock County’s oldest football rivalry, Class 4A No. 1 New Palestine defeated Class 4A No. 9/No. 10 Mt. Vernon 42-6 at Hancock Health Stadium Friday.
With the win, the Dragons regained control of The Boundary Rail, the traveling trophy between the two arch-rivals. New Palestine took over the Hoosier Heritage Conference Helmet trophy, too.
“Rivalry games are really important to us and our community, just like everybody else’s community,” New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph said. “To be able to come out and win convincingly is big. Getting the helmet back, getting the rail back, our kids work really hard for that stuff, just like everyone else does.
“We took a lot of pride in possessing those things for seven years, then we lost them. That hurt. It hurt our program and it hurt our kids. We’ve been battling to get them back. It’s nice to have them again and now the defense of them begins. That’s the fun part.”
On a big night for the Dragons, they got big plays from the offense, defense and special teams.
Senior quarterback Daniel Tippit threw three first-half touchdown passes to three different receivers. Two came in the first quarter. He connected with slotback Kyler Kropp on a 32-yarder.
Untouched straight up the middle of the field, Kropp crossed the goal line with 4:16 left in the period to give the Dragons a 13-0 lead.
The series was set up after a 6-yard punt, which appeared to be deflected on the rush of New Palestine’s Eian Roudebush.
On the Dragons next series, on third-and-1, Tippit threw a quick out to senior wide receiver Isaiah Thacker, who dodged a couple tacklers and went 44 yards for a touchdown to give the Dragons a 20-0 lead with 1:30 remaining in the first period.
In the second quarter, New Pal junior running back Grayson Thomas, on a fourth-and-one play, spun off of a Mt. Vernon defender to go 46 yards for a touchdown.
Just before the halftime horn, the Dragons added another touchdown. Tippit found Blaine Nunnally, on a 16-yarder with 1.4 seconds left, to give the Dragons a 35-0 lead and a running clock for the second half.
“(Mt. Vernon) handled us pretty well the last two years,” Nunnally said. “For this senior class, it’s a different feeling than the last two years. It’s amazing.”
Tippit threw, unofficially, for 189 yards in the first half. Thomas rushed for 123 in the first two quarters. Both added to their numbers in the third quarter. Tippit threw for 218 yards. Thomas rushed for 168 and added a second touchdown.
The defense helped force two first-half turnovers, special teams led to another.
In the second quarter, with the Marauders on the New Palestine 20, Daniel Thacker picked off Mt. Vernon freshman quarterback Luke Ertel at the goal line.
The Dragons followed with a 93-yard drive ending in Thomas’s first-half touchdown.
A late second quarter Mt. Vernon fumble set up the Dragons final first-half score.
Mt. Vernon star receiver George Burhenn went 41 yards on a running play to get to the New Pal 2. Two plays later running back Drew Martin was thrown for a loss by New Pal defensive lineman Michael Thacker. Martin fumbled and the Dragons recovered.
With 45.6 seconds left, the Dragons went 95 yards, finishing it off with a pair of Tippit to Nunnally strikes. Prior to the 16-yard score, the two hooked up for a 36-yard gain.
New Palestine’s first six points were aided and scored by special teams.
Kropp took the opening kickoff 55 yards to the Mt. Vernon 41. The Dragons finished the series with a 29-yard field goal from Brendan Tanksley to take a 3-0 lead.
On Mt. Vernon’s ensuing series, it fumbled a punt snap, the Dragons recovered with great field position, but had to settle for another field goal from the reliable Tanksley, who hit from 23 yards out.
“It’s a three-phase game and I’m happy how we did there,” Ralph said. “There’s a lot of stuff we need to improve on, but, overall, all three phases were playing pretty good football (Friday). We need to continue that. It’s something we want to get better at every week and we’re taking steps in the right direction. ”
Mt. Vernon got on the board in the third quarter when Ertel connected with speedster wide receiver Tre Jones, who went 66 yards for the Marauders only points of the game.
The traveling trophies had been in Mt. Vernon’s possession for two seasons.
Mt. Vernon won the two previous meetings, including a 49-10 contest at New Pal last year on its way to the Class 4A state title. New Palestine had won eight straight games prior to 2020.
“I was a freshman on the team that had them last,” New Palestine senior left tackle Luke Burgess said. “I experienced what it was like to have them. When we lost our sophomore year it was devastating. It’s an amazing feeling to have it back in our hands.”
Friday’s meeting was the 61st between the schools and 55th straight year they have faced in the regular season. New Palestine holds a 36-24-1 edge overall and a 16-3 advantage in games since The Boundary Rail series began in 2005.
Both New Palestine and Mt. Vernon will be on the road next week for HHC matchups. The Dragons (4-0, 2-0) travel to Pendleton Heights. Mt. Vernon (1-3, 1-1) will visit Delta.
