The first quarter looked like we had an offensive show on our hands tonight.
Instead, we witnessed the Pat Feeney show. New Palestine's senior back/receiver/kick returner/interception machine put together one of the most dominant individual halves of football I've seen in some time. He had 312 yards from scrimmage, three touchdowns, an interception and even got his state runner-up ring from track and field on the same night. And he only played one offensive snap in the second half in the Dragons' 49-14 win over Pendleton Heights.
NP put on an offensive show throughout the night. On the opening drive, it was a methodical march down the field -- 12 plays, 61 yards. Feeney had carries of 5, 15 and 13 yards before Cary Albrecht snuck in from a foot out. Feeney nearly had an interception for a TD on PH's first drive, but after a punt, he turned on the jets and broke 80 yards for a score. After he picked off a pass, he caught a 39-yard pass from Albrecht for a TD, and finished the half with a 60-yard catch where he won a jump ball, bounced off the defensive back and ran the last few yards for a score.
He rushed eight times for 209 yards -- four of his touches were for more than 20. Also had 3 receptions for 103 yards. About the only thing he didn't do was sell popcorn.
And he wasn't the only Dragon to have a big night. Tim Able told us before the game he was hoping for FB/LB Austin Cahoy to have a big night, and he ended up with 85 yards on seven carries and a TD. Brett Jackson had a TD, an interception and a 76-yard kickoff return. Bryce Pierson and Nathan Penley also had picks. Albrecht had 2 TDs running and 2 more throwing. NP had 543 yards of offense, 4 takeaways on defense and was, needless to say, impressive.
We thought this might sort out the HHC race a little bit, and it instead turned into a big statement for the Dragons. PH had some bright spots -- RB Ravaughn White had 74 rushing and 76 receiving yards, including a 71-yard touchdown catch on a screen where he outran everybody. QBs Grant Hendershot and Mitch Patishall combined to throw for 188 yards, and they moved the ball on their four second-half possessions, largely through the air. LB James Main seemed to be in the mix on several tackles. PH will score points this season, but the Arabians had no answer for NP's speed on this night.
It was a very impressive performance by the Dragons, who are now 2-1. Their Week 1 win over Whiteland was made a bit more impressive tonight when the Warriors had 4A No. 7 Plainfield on the ropes. The Quakers won 7-3, but had to score in the final two minutes to win. NP has another tough game next week, facing unbeaten Batesville in Lucas Oil Stadium. PH is now 1-2, and has an unbeaten Shelbyville team coming in next week.
Elsewhere in Hancock County
Delta 35, Greenfield-Central 3: Delta coach Grant Zgunda gets his 150th career victory tonight, spoiling the christening of Clayton Myers Field. Delta has given up one touchdown in three games, outscoring its opponents 114-9. This was the only other conference game tonight.
Mt. Vernon 67, Connersville 20: The Marauders have their biggest offensive night since 1997 and improve to 2-1 on the year. I'll be interested to see the Marauders' offensive numbers from this one. MV continues to impress and will be in the mix for the upper division of the HHC. That's two big offensive nights in a row, with a trip to Rushville ahead next week.
Indian Creek 66, Eastern Hancock 0: There was a chance this could happen, as IC may have one of its best teams in a long time (they're 3-0 and they doubled up Greenwood last week), while EH has been struggling of late. The Royals travel to face an improved Milan team next week.
In the rest of the HHC
Shelbyville 45, Franklin 7: Another impressive win for the Golden Bears. They're now 3-0 and appear to be able to score points and roll up yards in bunches. They appear to be the top challenger to Delta for HHC supremacy right now, which isn't a huge surprise, given the two teams have been the top two in the conference the last two seasons.
Greensburg 25, Rushville 14: This score was a bit of a surprise, as Greensburg was winless. Rushville was licking its wounds a bit from the defeat to Shelbyville, but the Lions have struggled a bit the last two weeks. They have MV and NP the next two weeks.
Yorktown 16, Muncie South 0: The Tigers do a nice job of bouncing back from last week's shutout by posting one of their own. Yorktown off to a 2-1 start heading into next week's home game against Greenfield-Central.
HHC standings
Delta 2-0/3-0
Shelbyville 1-0/3-0
Mt. Vernon 1-0/2-1
New Palestine 1-1/2-1
Yorktown 1-1/2-1
Pendleton Heights 1-2/1-2
Rushville 0-1/1-2
Greenfield-Central 0-2/1-2
Next week's Hancock County games (all games Friday, Sept. 11 unless noted)
Greenfield-Central at Yorktown, 7:30 p.m. (GID Game of the Week: 7 p.m. pregame show)
New Palestine vs. Batesville, noon Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium (GID Game of the Week: 11:30 a.m. pregame show)
Mt. Vernon at Rushville, 7 p.m.
Eastern Hancock at Milan, 7 p.m.
Next week's other HHC games
Delta at Muncie South, 7 p.m.
Shelbyville at Pendleton Heights, 7:30 p.m.
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