The Boundary Rail Game

One of my favorite weeks of the year is this week -- Mt. Vernon vs. New Palestine. Both schools began playing football in 1968, and they ended up on each other's schedule with a game for the ages. MV ended up winning 27-24, but the lead changed hands three times in the final 2:15, with the Marauders finally winning on a pass from MV's Gary Newman to Jim Howard with eight seconds left.

It was a memorable start to what has become a memorable rivalry. Games, like that one, have been talked about in their communities for years. A win over the other team can make one's season. A loss can sit for a year -- or more. More than bragging rights are at statkie. Upsets and close games and big comebacks were the norm, rather than the exception. In 1968, the two schools were tiny and just starting football. Now, they're solidly both 4A schools. They were in different conferences then, they've both been in the HHC now for 16 years. But they've always stayed pretty close to each other in enrollment and competitiveness, and that's shown on the field.

This Friday night's game will be the 46th meeting between Mt. Vernon and New Palestine, one Andrew Smith, Jim Ryan and Tim Adams will bring you LIVE. There have been 41 regular-season meetings and 4 in the postseason so far. NP has a 25-19-1 edge in those games, with a 22-18-1 advantage in the regular-season matchups.

Several years ago, the thought came into several peoples' minds -- "why doesn't this game have a traveling trophy?" Those thoughts coalesced on The Gridiron Digest, and the Boundary Rail was born. The rail is a small piece of the interurban track that once ran along U.S. 40 -- the rough boundary between the MV and NP school districts. It was donated by former Marauder Josh Short, who took the old piece of metal, sanded it down and painted it -- half black for MV, half red for NP. The rail is about 15 inches long, but it weighs a ton, and its meaning is great.

The Rail was presented to the Dragons after their 20-0 victory at Mt. Vernon Stadium in 2005. NP has retained the trophy in the three meetings since. A neat tradition has emerged, as the Rail has been placed at midfield during warmups, and then is kept on the sideline of the team in possession during the game.

In addition to the 1968 game, there have been many other great games during the years. Among them (in chronological order):
1969: New Palestine 24-22. The Dragons had their own late-game victory for their first win in the series.
1970: New Palestine 8, Mt. Vernon 8. The only tie in series history.
1982: Mt. Vernon 12-6, OT. One of two OT games. Keith Neylon scored the game-winning TD for the Marauders.
1983: New Palestine 27-24. Brad Ehle's 54-yard reception late in the game set up the game-winning field goal and the cluster championship (which carried with it tourney qualification).
1984: New Palestine 8-6. Gary Greene threw a late TD pass to tie the game, but the snap on the PAT went awry. Greene picked up the loose ball and ran it in for the winning conversion, clinching another cluster title and tournament spot.
1990: Mt. Vernon 21-20. Probably the most talked-about game in the history of this series. Played in the Hoosier Dome, MV's Reggie Johnson caps an 88-yard drive with a late TD pass to Mark Barnett, and then the Marauders run a halfback pass on the 2-point conversion to seal the win. It was the only regular-season defeat for the Dragons, who would go on to the State Finals. However, in the sectional, MV took an early 7-0 lead -- it was the first TD given up by the Dragons in more than a month. NP rallied and won 19-7 and went on to be the 3A runner-up.
2004 sectional: New Palestine 20-6: One of the more controversial games. Mt. Vernon led this one 6-0 going into the fourth quarter and had the Dragons stopped on fourth down. But a late hit call gave NP new life, Greg Davis scored shortly thereafter, and the Dragons added two more TDs to seal the win.
2006: NP 21-20, OT (regular season); MV 17-14 (sectional final): Two great games between two very evenly-matched teams. NP won the HHC title with the regular-season victory, going for 2 in overtime and barely getting in. The Dragons led 14-0 in the sectional, but the Marauders rallied with three second-half scores and some big special-teams play.

Series history
Total series: NP 25, MV 19, 1 tie
Regular season: NP 22, MV 18, 1 tie
Boundary Rail (introduced 2005): NP 4, MV 0
2008: @NP 21, MV 7
2007: NP 20, @MV 13
2006: @MV 17, NP 14 (sectional final)
2006: @NP 21, MV 20, OT
2005: NP 31, @MV 14 (sectional final)
2005: NP 20, @MV 0 (first Boundary Rail Game)
2004: @NP 20, MV 6 (sectional 1st round)
2004: @NP 21, MV 10
2003: @MV 38, NP 6
2002: @NP 12, MV 7
2001: MV 23, @NP 0
2000: MV 42, @NP 7
1999: @MV 36, NP 28
1998: MV 38, @NP 21
1997: @MV 48, NP 21
1996: NP 7, @MV 0
1995: @NP 36, MV 22
1994: @MV 10, NP 0
1993: @NP 61, MV 13
1992: NP 48, @MV 19
1991: MV 15, @NP 7
1990: @NP 19, MV 7 (sectional)
1990: MV 21, NP 20 (@Hoosier Dome)
1989: @NP 40, MV 6
1988: NP 34, @MV 13
1987: @NP 24, MV 8
1986: @MV 6, NP 0
1985: MV 12, @NP 6
1984: NP 8, @MV 6
1983: @NP 27, MV 24
1982: @MV 12, NP 6, OT
1981: MV 17, @NP 6
1980: @MV 19, NP 14
1979: @NP 20, MV 14
1978: NP 34, @MV 13
1977: @NP 28, MV 14
1976: NP 20, @MV 12
1975: MV 14, @NP 3
1974: NP 44, @MV 0
1973: @NP 12, MV 6
1972: @MV 12, NP 6
1971: MV 22, @NP 7
1970: @MV 8, NP 8
1969: @NP 24, MV 22
1968: @MV 28, NP 24
Games at Mt. Vernon: NP 11, MV 10, 1 tie (regular season NP 10-9-1)
Games at New Palestine: NP 14, MV 9 (regular season NP 12-9)
Longest NP streak: 5 games (2004-2006) (regular-season: 5 games, 2004-08)
Longest MV streak: 5 games (1997-2001)
Biggest wins: MV 38, NP 6 (2003); NP 61, MV 13 (1993).
Winningest coaches: Marvin Shepler, NP (17 wins); Doug Peacock, MV (8 wins).