NEW PALESTINE — He was the new kid on the block, all 5-foot-9 and 146 pounds of him.
Looks are a little deceiving when it comes to Daniel Tippit IV.
The small guy that transferred from Warren Central to New Palestine for his senior football season helped lead the Dragons back to where they were accustomed, the top of the polls for Indiana’s Class 4A division.
Not the size of a prototypical quarterback at any level past middle school, Tippit came on the scene during the summer, earned the starting QB spot and went on to have one of the best seasons of any quarterback in the Dragons’ storied program’s history.
In 13 games, Tippit threw 33 touchdown passes and only one interception. He had a quarterback rating of 134.7 and completed 63.1 percent of his passes. Tippit found his target 159 times in 252 attempts for 2,546 yards. He averaged 195.8 passing yards per game.
And, is The Daily Reporter Football Offensive Athlete of the Year.
“It was really something incredible to watch,” New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph said. “You look at it on paper, a guy that size should not be successful, and yet there he was because he had all the other things you need in a quarterback.”
Ralph said a lot of people would write off a guy of Tippit’s size. But what Tippit did not have in size, he made for it with his knowledge of the game and understanding of what the Dragons were wanting to do. Plus, he had arm talent and got the ball, in a hurry, where it was supposed to go.
Tippit is only the fifth Dragon to throw for over 2,500 yards in a season. He ranked 12th in the state in passing yards. Of the state’s top 40 passers, only Park Tudor’s DJ Gordon (3) had less than six interceptions. Tippit was third in the state in touchdown passes.
The game he threw his one interception, in Week 5 at Pendleton Heights, he also threw for a season-high 310 yards. He tied a school record with five touchdown passes the following Friday in a Week 6 win over Greenfield-Central. He threw at least one touchdown pass in every game, for multiple touchdowns in 10 of 13 game and three or more scores six times.
“He just did an incredible job,” Ralph added. The old saying, ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover.’ You look at him on paper and think, that might be a tough sell at quarterback in what’s supposed to be a real, physical, smash-mouth, downhill running offense. That’s not his style of play. Our job as coaches is to get the best of what we have. We did some great stuff with him this year. He was awesome and fun to coach and did an extremely good job.”
Tippit switched it around and called his size disadvantage and actual advantage.
“I like it because it almost gives me an advantage,” he said. “When I do have a really good game and my stats do pop off, people don’t realize it’s a smaller guy. It seems like, ‘this kid has to play better than a kid that’s 6-5 and 220. He has to play up to that level because he’s 5-10 and 150 pounds.’ I have to up my game because I don’t have the size advantage. I enjoy it. I don’t mind. I’ve kind of gotten over the part that I’m small. I’m just playing football and that’s what I love to do.”
Along with the numbers the Dragons won game after game. They were 9-0 in the regular season, won the Hoosier Heritage Conference and knocked off their first 12 opponents until a regional loss at Roncalli.
“As a quarterback, to help your team, you have to limit your turnovers,” Tippit said. “I was really proud of whatever the other stats were, but I only had one interception in the season. That’s not something you see often.”
“His efficiency in that short of period of time is staggering,” Ralph said. “I think a big part of it was he enjoyed his teammates. He enjoyed playing football again and it was fun for him. Obviously, there’s a learning curve, you could tell as the year went on he was enjoying himself, the game and all the preparation that goes on. It was fun to watch him grow and fall back in love with football again.”
Tippit gave a lot of credit to his receivers and offensive line. Senior wide receiver Isaiah Thacker is a Division I recruit heading to Ball State University next season. Thacker had 55 catches for 917 yards, both county highs. Tippit’s other top target, senior Blaine Nunnally caught a team-best 12 touchdown passes.
Other help came from one of the state’s best offensive lines, which gave Tippit the needed time to show off his strong arm and accuracy. He benefited from a big crew up front that included Louisville-bound left tackle Luke Burgess, Ohio State commit Ian Moore and unsigned right guard Thomas Wood.
“My job was just to get the ball to them. They were able to make plays and get all those yards for me, it’s really not my work that’s doing it. It’s them,” Tippit said of his receivers. “Our O-line did a great job all year limiting sacks and pressures. I threw the ball well, but our guys all around as a team on offense did a great job of helping me do that.”
Tippit, who has verbally committed to play football at DePauw, added that he was grateful to have the opportunity at New Palestine, and not just playing football but for the school overall. He said there were some tough times at his previous school and he was glad everything worked out at New Pal.
“It was worth it,” Tippit said of his move to New Palestine. “I am very thankful for the opportunity to play at New Pal and for coach Ralph, the coaching staff and all the players, teachers, students, and faculty that supported me through it.”
2022 Daily Reporter Fall Sports Honors
Football (Offensive) Athlete of the Year
Daniel Tippit IV, New Palestine
Football (Defensive) Co-Athletes of the Year
Blaine Nunnally, New Palestine
Michael Thacker, New Palestine
Football Coach of the Year
Kyle Ralph, New Palestine
*All-Hancock County Team
Offense
Pos.;Name, School;Ht.;Wt.;Class
QB;Daniel Tippit IV;New Palestine;5-9;146;12
RB;Grayson Thomas, New Palestine;6-0;184;11
RB;Andrew Zellers, Greenfield-Central;6-0;200;12
RB;Kain Sotelo;Eastern Hancock;6-3;185;12
WR;George Burhenn, Mt. Vernon;6-5;215;12
WR;Isaiah Thacker, New Palestine;6-0;186;12
OL;Luke Burgess, New Palestine;6-7;291;12
OL;Brayden Flener, Greenfield-Central;6-2;300;11
OL;Kyler Grill, Mt. Vernon;5-10;225;12
OL;Ian Moore, New Palestine;6-6;290;11
OL;Thomas Wood, New Palestine;6-2;284;12
ATH;Eli Bridenthal, Mt. Vernon;6-3;190;12
Defense
Pos.;Name, School;Ht.;Wt.;Class
DL;Brad Allen, Greenfield-Central;5-11;233;12
DL;Brock Brownfield, New Palestine;6-2;231;9
DL;Tyler Kimberly, Mt. Vernon;6-2;225;12
DL;Michael Thacker, New Palestine;6-1;268;10
LB;Jake Hinton, Greenfield-Central;6-4;185;11
LB;Eli Hook, New Palestine;6-2;205;12
LB;Kellan LaBelle, Mt. Vernon;5-11;200;12
DB;Owen Anderson, Greenfield-Central;5-11;170;12
DB;Dylan Bowman, Eastern Hancock;6-0;170;11
DB;Blaine Nunnally, New Palestine;5-10;171;12
DB;Daniel Thacker, New Palestine;5-8;145;12
Special Teams
Pos.;Name, School;Ht.;Wt.;Class
K;Brendan Tanksley, New Palestine;5-7;162;12
P;Aaron Redmon, Eastern Hancock;6-3;160;11
R;Kirk Knecht, Greenfield-Central;6-0;170;11
Honorable Mention
Eastern Hancock: Logan Hoskins, Kayden Ruble, Brayden Tincher, Jacob Wickard; Greenfield-Central: Brayden Herrell, Reese Hill, Dallas Freeman, Lane Wadle. Mt. Vernon: Ren Davis, Ben Roembke, Luke Ertel, Rylan Vinard. New Palestine: A.J. Reierson.
*Determined by coaches nominations and The Daily Reporter
