Opening night

If you were able to listen to tonight's broadcast, you're probably scratching your head. If you weren't, make sure you listen to the archived broadcast when it gets posted sometime Saturday afternoon.

I love opening night. I love it even more when you have games like this to watch.

New Palestine 22, Whiteland 16, OT. But that's only half the story. Tim Able's first game as the Dragons' head coach will be one that won't be forgotten for a long time.

The opening kickoff probably signaled we were in for a crazy game -- Whiteland's Drew Smyth returned it 60+ yards into NP territory, then lost the ball. Smyth would eventually have a huge night -- 143 yards rushing, 2 TDs and he really helped carry the Warriors in the 2nd half, when he had 110 of his yards.

It was about what we expected early -- NP used its experience to take a lead, then Whiteland came alive in the second half. Pat Feeney had two TDs -- a 58-yard reception for the first score and a 10-yard run for the winning score in OT -- and 132 yards from scrimmage. He also had an interception deep in NP territory to end a Whiteland threat. NP quarterback Cary Albrecht was solid, completing 5-of-6 for 80 yards and 2 TDs, and also using his legs to help set up NP's final regulation score. The first TD to Feeney was an athletic play -- he came back for an underthrown ball, caught it, bounced off a tackle and ran it in. NP then added another score right before halftime, then hit a FG on the first drive of the second half to go up 16-0. Whiteland, led by Smyth, came back, first with a 63-yard TD run, then with a 14-yard TD midway through the fourth.

The Warriors' sophomore QB Tommy Riegel then came alive. He completed three straight passes on the final drive -- one on 4th-and-9, another on third-and-long -- and then hurried his team to the line in less than 10 seconds after a 17-yard completion to spike the ball with one second left, setting up Jordan Laforet's sidewinding 30-yard field goal that snuck inside the uprights.

Whew. And that was just regulation.

Feeney touched the ball on NP's first play. It became NP's only play, as he swept left, hurdled the only would-be tackler, and walked into the end zone. Then Chris Poland came alive, stopping the Warriors for a loss on 2nd down, then batting down a pass on 3rd down. A 4th-down heave toward the corner of the end zone fell incomplete, and a mob of red jerseys was quickly on the field.

Wow! What a game!

Stats were basically even -- NP 225 yards, Whiteland 211. NP dominated the first half (13-0), Whiteland dominated the second (16-3). The game was basically even, with a lot of twists and turns (even found in the weather conditions -- it went from late-summer perfection to rainy to perfect and calm to windy to monsoon to steady rain and calm all in one night). But the twists and turns create a great storyline, one Jim Ryan & I were happy to bring to you.

Join us next week for Yorktown @ Mt. Vernon. Airtime 7:00, kickoff 7:30.

And make sure you read the Daily Reporter for all the coverage of tonight's games, including Zak Keefer's coverage of the NP-Whiteland contest.

Elsewhere in the county/HHC tonight:
Kokomo 34, Mt. Vernon 7. The Wildkats extend their Indiana regular-season win streak to 16 games. MV opens conference play next week vs. Yorktown.
Greenfield-Central 29, New Castle 8. The Cougars were down early, but rallied for a nice season-opening road win.
Triton Central 42, Eastern Hancock 14. TC has been in its "up" cycle of late, and the Tigers get a nice season-opening win. These two teams have played each other in the opener for years, but will be a conference game next year, when EH joins the Mid-Indiana Football Conference.
Yorktown 28, Pendleton Heights 21. When the Tigers look at the newspaper tomorrow, they'll be the HHC leaders. Good win for a team that was hit hard by graduation, as PH had a bit of talent. The Arabians meet Greenfield-Central next week.
Delta 56, Jay County 6. Looks like the Eagles have their usual explosive offense. And they certainly backed up their No. 10 ranking in the IFCA poll. Next up for the Eagles: New Palestine.
Rushville 46, Connersville 24. A shootout tonight. Rushville is a team that will turn a lot of heads this season.
Shelbyville 35, Greensburg 14. Nice win for Pat Parks and the Golden Bears, who appear to be picking up where they've left off the last couple of years.

Next week in the county/HHC
Yorktown (1-0) at Mt. Vernon (0-1), 7:30 p.m.: Gridiron Digest Game of the Week.
Eastern Hancock (0-1) at Scecina (0-1), 7 p.m.
Greenfield-Central (1-0) at Pendleton Heights (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
New Palestine (1-0) at Delta (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
Rushville (1-0) at Shelbyville (1-0), 7 p.m.