Regional week

New Palestine's first season under Tim Able was a successful one, led by an outstanding senior class.

It began with a thrilling OT win over Whiteland. It continued with a second-place HHC finish, and a 7-2 record in the regular season whose only blemishes were to undefeated sectional champions.

That record became 10-2 after the Dragons rolled to a sectional title, winning games by an aggregate score of 122-43, winning the school's first title as a 4A school.

However, the Dragons ran into Class 4A's best team Friday night. Heck, they probably ran into Indiana's best team. Led by one of the state's most dynamic players in IU recruit Kofi Hughes and an offensive line & defense that would be the envy of most small colleges, the Dragons saw their season come to a conclusion with a 45-6 loss to No. 1 Cathedral at North Central HS.

Still, it was a successful year for NP -- with Pat Feeney having a huge season offensively & defensively, and a team that saw players step up from everywhere, from Nathan Penley's big receiving games to the 100-yard games of Bryce Pierson and Michael Phelps against Yorktown, to the huge second half by Austin Cahoy in the Boundary Rail Game. It saw Coach Able's 100th career victory. It saw two games at Lucas Oil Stadium, a game where the defense scored almost as many points as the offense (the 33-0 win over Arlington that saw two defensive TDs and a safety), and of course, a sectional championship.

A year that started late ended maybe two weeks sooner than the Dragons had hoped, but it was an outstanding year, both for NP and for football in Hancock County. It's one we were thrilled to bring to you throughout the regular season.

It also ended two weeks to early for the HHC's other surviving team, the Delta Eagles, who fell to Fort Wayne Dwenger 49-12 tonight, ending their perfect season at 12-1.

For us at CCSN, we now turn our sights to basketball, which looks to be strong again. We have a defending sectional champion in NP, a Top 10 team in Mt. Vernon, a team that has been a sectional threat in Eastern Hancock and a team with a new outlook & a new coach in Greenfield-Central. Andrew Smith & Chris Lambert will have the call of the Hancock County Game of the Week broadcasts, starting on Nov. 25, when the Lapel Bulldogs visit the Mt. Vernon Marauders. Stay tuned for CCSN basketball!