NEW PALESTINE — For the fifth straight year and 16th time in school history, New Palestine is a sectional football champion.
The Class 5A No. 1 ranked Dragons (11-0) defeated No. 2 Cathedral (7-4) 20-15 at Kelso Stadium Friday.
Junior Ryder Gardner ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown and senior quarterback Jacob Davis scored on a couple of short runs.
Davis’s younger brother, sophomore Andrew Davis, had three interceptions, including one in the end zone.
It’s the 10th sectional title for the Dragons under head coach Kyle Ralph, who in 13 years as the New Pal leader has got his team to 12 sectional championship games.
“They are all special,” Ralph said. “This was a great one though. It’s one of the best teams that we’ve had to play in the sectional championship. I think it’s so unfortunate that one of the two is done, and I’m very glad it’s not us. It stinks that a team that is that good is finished Nov. 7. That’s tough.”
Following an Irish second-quarter safety, to cut the Dragons lead to 7-2, Cathedral’s Jimmy Pappas looked like he was going to return the free kick for a touchdown, but Gardner made his second big special teams play of the night with a shoestring-tackle at the New Pal 6.
Three plays later Andrew Davis picked off a Cameron Koers’ pass in the end zone.
“We do this conditioning drill in the spring and summer that we call the Dragon Pride drill,” Ralph said. “It’s essentially a pursuit drill that the pursuit player is never supposed to win. We run it to teach the kids you don’t ever give up. You’re not supposed to win this drill but you’re going to give everything you have to chase this kid down and try to win.
“[Gardner’s play] reminded me a lot of that. He had a bad angle, he’s behind, and that guy’s running to the end zone and Gardner is facing the other direction. He just did what we train our kids to do, which is never give up on a play and hustle until the whistle blows. Incredible.”
Cathedral kicker Van Krisiloff had a 37-yard field goal to end the first half, to cut the New Pal lead to 7-5, and hit a 42-yarder late in the third quarter.
The 42-yarder was sandwiched between two Jacob Davis touchdown runs.
The first one, a 1-yarder, was set up after a pair of long pass plays to tight end Garrett Ranes. The first went for 41 yards to get to the Cathedral 45. The second, a 38-yarder, got to the Irish 1.
It gave the Dragons some momentum. They had just two first-half first downs, with one coming on a roughing the punter penalty.
Ranes said he told Ralph that a play was open for him with the Irish keying on the run and junior standout receiver Mason Oglesby.
“I told coach Ralph their DBs were biting hard on the run and that they’re not even guarding me,” Ranes said. “We did a bubble-go play. They went with Mason Oglesby, he’s a 5-star tight end. They bit, and I was wide open down the seam and was able to take it to the 1-yard line.
“That was massive. It was a whole momentum changer. When they were walking to the locker room (at halftime) they were telling our coaches that we can’t play in the third and fourth quarter, and that they’ve got us right where we they want us. We came out and took that personal.”
Cathedral was referring to New Pal’s starters not playing many second halves this year due to blowout wins, but the Dragons proved they had plenty in the tank for the final two periods.
With the score 14-8, Jacob Davis scored on a 2-yard run. It was set up by a 26-yard completion to Landon Maddox, which moved the ball to the Cathedral 3. The Dragons missed the two-point conversion, but had built their lead to 20-8 with 10:20 left in the game.
The next Cathedral possession ended in Andrew Davis’s second interception of the night. Davis caught a tipped pass near midfield to give the Dragons the ball with 8:54 remaining.
The Dragons failed to convert a fourth-down play at the Irish 26, and the visitors had some life left with 4:47 remaining.
With 2:21 to go, Cathedral cut the New Pal lead to 20-15. Koers, on fourth down, threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Nate Van Vierzen.
New Pal senior Bryan Caldwell recovered the ensuing onside kick.
Cathedral got the ball back one more time with under two minutes remaining, but its drive ended with Andrew Davis’s third interception of the night.
“Andrew makes the checks for us in our secondary and (Cathedral) does so many things,” Ralph said. “We really put him through a tough week this week and I know he was frustrated as the week went on because there were so many things he had to manage.
“He just kept taking the coaching and he just kept getting better throughout the week. He got all those things down and he got paid off with another great night. If you’d watched Tuesday’s practice, and watched how that went for him, it was a struggle, it was tough. Wednesday was better, Thursday was better and [Friday], what a night. That’s what you pride yourself on.”
It was the fifth meeting between the two traditional high school football powers. All have been in the postseason. The previous four were regional title games with the schools splitting the outcomes 2-2.
The win was New Palestine’s 25th straight victory and 31st in a row at Kelso Stadium. The last loss at home was on Sept. 10, 2021 to Mt. Vernon.
The Dragons will play East Central (9-2) for the regional championship next Friday, Nov. 14. The No. 7 Trojans beat No. 8 Whiteland (9-3), on the road Friday, 35-0 for the Sectional 14 championship game.
New Palestine’s last loss was a semi-state game at East Central in 2023. The Trojans went on to win the 4A state title that season.
Gardner’s kick return for a score was New Palestine’s eighth special teams touchdown of the season. They have returned three kickoffs and one punt for scores and have scored touchdowns on three blocked punts and one blocked field goal.
New Palestine 20, Cathedral 15
Cathedral (7-4);0;5;3;7;-15
New Palestine (11-0);7;0;7;6;-20
Scoring summary
1st Quarter
NP- Ryder Gardner 98 kickoff return (Evan Walker kick), 11:47
2nd Quarter
C – Safety, NP QB Jacob Davis sacked in end zone, 8:27
C – Van Krisiloff 37 FG, :11.4
3rd Quarter
NP – Davis 1 run (Walker kick), 6:15
C – Krisiloff 42 FG, 2:40
4th Quarter
NP – Davis 2 run (pass failed), 10:20
C – Nate Van Vierzen 7 pass from Cameron Koers (Krisiloff kick), 2:21
