Dragons rally to beat Delta

Great game we had this afternoon -- befitting one between two ranked teams. #5 New Palestine won its 15th straight Hoosier Heritage Conference game today at Lucas Oil Stadium, beating #10 Delta 31-20.

NP trailed 20-17 early in the fourth, but a long drive that set up Connor Simmons' 1-yard TD run gave the Dragons the lead with 7:51 left. After Sam Wright forced a fumble, NP milked the clock and Simmons clinched it by hitting Josh Penley for a 4-yard TD in the corner of the end zone with 2:41 left to make it 31-20.

Simmons completed 17-of-23 passes for 245 yards, as he eclipsed the 200-yard mark for the fourth straight game. Brandon Collins caught eight passes for 126 yards, including a 38-yard TD with 9:52 left in the second that gave NP a 7-6 lead. His catches helped set up a 25-yard FG by Wes Fox just ahead of the halftime gun. Simmons hit Josh Penley from 24 yards out on the first drive of the second half to give the Dragons a 17-6 lead.

Penley had six catches for 94 yards, just shy of his third straight 100-yard game. His third-quarter TD was set up by a fake punt pass from Collins to Blake Luker that kept the drive going.

Delta answered with back-to-back TDs, before the Dragons put it away.

NP gained 328 yards of offense -- including 265 through the air. Junior Matt Siergiej led the Dragons' rushing attack with 68 yards on the ground. NP's defense held Delta to 227 total yards -- including a 5-of-12 performance and just 91 yards for Ball State recruit Ozzie Mann, the Eagles' outstanding QB.

NP's defense forced two turnovers -- Dakota Smith had an INT and Wright's forced that set up the final TD. Brandon Wiggins (8 tackles) and Chris Wolf (5 tackles, 1 sack) led the Dragons.

NP moves into a first-place tie with Mt. Vernon in the HHC, both with 4-0 records and 2-0 in the league. Delta (1-3/1-1) is in a four-way third-place tie with Pendleton Heights, Greenfield-Central and Shelbyville.

The Dragons return home next week to face Rushville (2-2/0-2) in homecoming (7:30 kickoff). Delta hosts Yorktown (2-2/0-2) in a 7 p.m. game.

Our broadcast next week will be a great HHC rivalry -- Pendleton Heights at Mt. Vernon. Join Andrew, Mike and Chris at 7 p.m. next Friday!