HHC Classic: Part 1

Today, we look at the Hoosier Heritage Conference Classic, part of our tripleheader of Hancock County football games this weekend (and area football games).

You can listen to them all at Audio Sports Online.

The schedule
Friday, 6:30 p.m.: Eastern Hancock (1-6) at Shenandoah (6-1)
Saturday, 10:30 a.m.: New Palestine (5-2/4-1) vs. Greenfield-Central (1-6/0-6)
Saturday, 6:45 p.m.: Mt. Vernon (5-2/4-1) vs. No. 6 Delta (7-0/5-0)

Yesterday, we previewed our Friday broadcast.

Today, we'll look at our first Saturday game (and the second game of the day). Keep reading tomorrow for a preview of the second game.

Saturday Game 1
New Palestine (5-2/4-1) vs. Greenfield-Central (1-6/0-6)
Broadcast time: 10:30 a.m. Listen here

The skinny: New Palestine is coming off a HUGE win over Shelbyville, which puts the Dragons in a 3-way tie for second place in the HHC. The Dragons are in the thick of the title race, although they'll need to win out and have somebody beat Delta for it to happen. The Dragons have one of the area's most dynamic players and a defense that held potent Shelbyville to 7 points last week. Meanwhile, Greenfield-Central is coming off its best game of the season. The Cougars have a very solid defense and an improving young offense led by a couple of strong sophomores. These rivalry games are toss-out-the-records matchups -- as evidenced last week when G-C and Mt. Vernon went down to the wire.

The Dragons
Coach: Tim Able (1st year at NP, 5-2; 18th year overall, 100-94)
Scouting report: New Palestine's win wasn't just a big one. It also gave coach Able his 100th career victory in 18 seasons. Five of those wins have come at NP, but he also amassed them at North Decatur, East Noble and Decatur Central. Able has been a proven winner everywhere, and he joins John Broughton, Grant Zgunda and Doug Peacock as 100-game winners among the HHC coaching fraternity. The Dragons' win last week was the first against Shelbyville for a team not named Delta since 2006. The Dragons' offense averages 23.4 ppg, and is led by one of the area's most dynamic players in Pat Feeney. The senior RB/WR/FS/KR/PR scored the Dragons' only touchdown last week on a 37-yard run. He had 57 yards rushing and 15 receiving last week against a stout Shelbyville defense. On the year, he has 977 yards from scrimmage (555 on the ground, 422 through the air), and that's in limited work. He barely played after halftime of the Pendleton Heights and Rushville games, and only saw one offensive touch against Yorktown. QB Cary Albrecht is 32-of-68 passing on the year, but he was 15-of-23 when NP visited Lucas Oil Stadium in Week 4. NP has a deep running attack -- Brett Jackson is a threat, while Michael Phelps and Bryce Pierson are workhorses. Two weeks ago against Yorktown, Phelps topped the 100-yard mark and had two long TDs, while Pierson had three TDs in a 35-12 victory. However, the Dragons' defense has also been stout recently. They allow 16.1 ppg, but they've given up just five touchdowns in the last 3 1/2 games. NP has a three-game winning streak, and it was sealed last Friday when Aaron Pfeifer hit a 30-yard FG in the closing seconds. Pfeifer could be doing double-duty on Saturday, as he also plays for a Dragon soccer team that will try to defend its sectional title that night. This is NP's third game at Lucas Oil Stadium -- the Dragons fell to Whiteland in the 2008 season opener, and fell to Batesville 28-14 in Week 4.

The Cougars
Coach: Roger Dodson (4th year at G-C, 10-28; 16th year overall, 74-87)
Scouting report: Greenfield-Central has been flying under the radar a little bit -- but the Cougars have been putting scares into teams. Last week, they put a huge one into Mt. Vernon, as G-C's defense held the Marauders scoreless in the first half and ended up falling 20-17, with an offense that had been struggling putting up two late touchdowns. G-C's defense is allowing 22.4 ppg, but it has been impressive recently, holding Shelbyville, Rushville and Mt. Vernon to 19, 19 and 20 points the last three weeks. The Cougars are a strong first-half team, as they are outscoring teams 25-10 in the first halves of games the last four weeks. However, they've been outscored 77-21 in the second halves -- although last week's second half was 20-14. G-C's offense is a multifaceted attack that put things together last week. Sophomore QB Tyler Colclazier has made two straight starts. He was 10-of-24 for 114 yards against MV last week, and he threw fourth-quarter TD passes to John White and Matt Dickerson. White is a senior playmaker, while Dickerson has been a top receiving and rushing threat for the Cougars. He had 3 catches for 32 yards against MV last week. RB Brady Conger has been getting more of the load. He had 135 yards against Rushville in Week 6.

The day's second game will begin at approximately 1:45 p.m., and feature the Shelbyville Golden Bears (6-1/4-1) and the Yorktown Tigers (4-3/2-3). The Golden Bears were booted from the lead in the HHC -- almost literally, as New Palestine hit a 30-yard FG in the closing seconds. It was a defensive struggle, with Shelby's lone offensive highlight an 88-yard run by QB Kevin Prosch. He topped 100 yards -- the Bears had 213 yards of offense in the game, but the rest of the Golden Bear attack was slowed by New Palestine's defense. Shelby scores 30+ points per game, but has been held to 19, 23 and 7 points the last three weeks in its tour of Hancock County. However, the fast turf at Lucas Oil might play in the favor of a team with a lot of speed. Meanwhile, Yorktown has a lot of strength -- especially up front, and with RB Derek Kundenreich. He has run for 100 yards six times this season and is one of the HHC's top rushers. The Tigers had an impressive 24-20 victory over Anderson Highland last week. QB Kyle Weiss led the team 86 yards for the winning TD in the final minutes, hooking up with Brett Allison for a 40-yard TD in the closing seconds. It was the Tigers' second last-ditch win of the year on a Weiss-to-Allison hookup -- they also beat PH in Week 1 the same way. Two weeks ago, Weiss was 20-of-34 passing and threw for two TDs against New Palestine.

HHC standings (w/games the last two weeks)
Delta (#6 4A) 5-0/7-0 (vs. Mt. Vernon; vs. Shelbyville)
Shelbyville 4-1/6-1 (vs. Yorktown; at Delta)
Mt. Vernon 4-1/5-2 (vs. Delta; vs. New Palestine)
New Palestine 4-1/5-2 (vs. Greenfield-C.; at Mt. Vernon)
Yorktown 2-3/4-3 (vs. Shelbyville; at Rushville)
Rushville 1-4/2-5 (vs. Pendleton Hts.; vs. Yorktown)
Pendleton Hts. 1-5/2-5 (vs. Rushville; at Anderson Highland)
Greenfield-C. 0-6/1-6 (vs. New Palestine; vs. Chatard)

Saturday's games (at Lucas Oil Stadium)
New Palestine vs. Greenfield-Central, 11 a.m. LISTEN HERE
Yorktown vs. Shelbyville, 1:45 p.m. Listen at wsvx.com
Rushville vs. Pendleton Heights, 4:30 p.m. Listen at 917weem.org
Mt. Vernon vs. Delta, 11 a.m. LISTEN HERE

Also, fans can head to the HHC Tailgate at the NCAA Hall of Champions, four blocks west of the stadium. There will be passes available to the Hall of Champions in the lobby of Lucas Oil Stadium.