County teams finish regular seasons tonight

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New Palestine’s Isaiah Thacker scores a touchdown during their game against Westfield, Friday, Aug. 19.

Tom Russo | The Daily Reporter

HANCOCK COUNTY — The beginning of the IHSAA Football State Tournament is a week away, but there is plenty to play for tonight when Hancock County teams finish regular season action.

Of the four teams, New Palestine has the most at stake.

The Class 4A No. 1 ranked Dragons are trying to complete another undefeated season, with that comes a Hoosier Heritage Conference title.

The Dragons (8-0, 6-0) welcome Delta (3-5, 1-5) to Kelso Stadium on Senior Night.

New Pal guaranteed a share of the HHC title with last week’s 63-12 win at New Castle, but a win tonight against an Eagles team that has lost five straight would give them the outright crown and another undefeated regular season.

It would be the program’s 12th unbeaten regular season and eighth in 10 years under head coach Kyle Ralph. It would also be the program’s 11th outright HHC championship in the last 14.

“We’ve had multiple teams ranked in the Top 10 in our conference this year at different times,” Ralph said. “I think it’s really impressive that our kids have gotten us to this point.

“Our goal is to be 1-0 each week. It’s never, technically, to be 9-0. But, if you can take care of that job, 9-0 comes with that territory. Our kids have done a great job focusing on the 1-0 aspect and each week is its own separate battle.”

In the lone road game involving a county team, Mt. Vernon (5-3, 5-1) travels to Yorktown (6-2, 4-2) in the area’s only matchup where both teams have over .500 records.

The Marauders are on a roll, winning four straight since a Week 4 loss to New Palestine. Yorktown had done the same until stumbling at Pendleton Heights last Friday.

Along with winning all of their games since the loss to the Dragons, the Marauders are averaging 46.5 points per game during that stretch.

The teams are playing for second place in the HHC. A Mt. Vernon win coupled with an unlikely New Pal loss to Delta, would give the Marauders a share of the HHC title.

Greenfield-Central (5-3, 3-3) got back on the winning track with impressive fashion a week ago with the program’s first-ever win at Delta, 28-6. The Cougars look to continue that trend with the home finale tonight against a New Castle (2-6, 1-5) team that has struggled much this season.

A sixth win would give them 13 victories over the last two seasons, tied for most in back-to-back years since the 2010 and 2011 teams went 7-5 and 6-5 respectively. G-C finished 7-4 last year.

Eastern Hancock (3-5) welcomes Lapel (4-4). It’s the county’s only non-conference game, but it is a potential second-round meeting in Class 2A Sectional 38.

The Royals are looking to bounce back from a rough performance a week ago in a loss to Shenandoah. Lapel comes in off a victory against Class 4A Jay County.

In the bottom half of the Sectional 38 bracket, Eastern Hancock opens with a road trip to Liberty to play Union County (4-4). Lapel begins tourney play next week with a home game against Winchester (3-5). If the Royals and Bulldogs win next week, they’d meet again Oct. 28 in a sectional semifinal game.