Dragons HHC champs

The New Palestine Dragons football team completed a perfect regular season Friday night with a nearly-perfect defensive effort in a 27-0 victory over Mt. Vernon.

We enjoyed bringing you the game -- as we have all season. The Dragons got started quickly -- needing just nine seconds to score the game's first touchdown -- and used a defensive effort that never let MV cross the 30-yard line.

Quarterback Connor Simmons completed 14-of-21 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 2,134 yards on the year, breaking Matt Rodgers' 18-year-old mark of 2,001. Simmons already holds the single-season mark for TD passes and extended it with his 24th and 25th of the year tonight. Josh Penley was his favorite target with six catches for 71 yards.

Junior running back Matt Siergiej had 44 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns. 



The biggest throw-and-catch happened on the game's first play. On the opening kickoff, the Dragons' Nolan Hill placed the ball between the up men and the Marauders' deep returners. It bounced on the ground and the Dragons recovered the loose ball. On the game's first play, Simmons dropped back and hit Penley in stride for a 22-yard touchdown pass. Just nine seconds in, the Dragons led 6-0, and they'd never look back from there. After stopping the Marauders on down in NP territory, the Dragons got to work again on a 14-play, 63-yard drive that primarily featured Siergiej's running.He capped it off with a 1-yard run that made it 13-0 just 4:39 in.

That was all the Dragon defense would need. The Marauders would never penetrate inside the NP 30. The Dragons stopped MV on downs twice in the first half, saw Penley nab his fourth interception of the year, blocked a punt and stuffed a fake punt. Brandon Collins also scooped up a Marauder fumble in the third quarter, setting up Siergiej's second TD of the day -- this one from 2 yards out that made it 20-0 with 2:48 left in the third. After forcing a punt, the Dragons added the insurance with a mammoth 14-play, 76-yard, 6:33 drive that saw NP convert two 20-plus yards-to-go situations. One of those was a 26-yard pass to Austin Monday on 2nd-and-24 to the MV 27. A couple of plays later, on first-and-22 from the 29, Simmons found Tyler Walden open at the back of the end zone for a touchdown pass.


The Dragons gained 271 total yards -- 93 on the ground and 178 through the air. They held MV to just 147 yards -- including minus-4 in the passing game. MV had seven total first downs, but had none in the second half until the final drive.


The victory clinches an HHC record for the Dragons, who won their 20th straight conference game. That breaks a record set by Hamilton Southeastern from 1994-97. The Dragons also retained possession of the HHC Helmet for the 14th straight game -- a conference record -- and will maintain it through the offseason for the second straight year. Simmons is also nearing career marks for passing yards, passing TDs and season TD passes. Collins has already set the school's single-season receiveing mark. He had two catches for 25 yards tonight.

New Palestine hosts Muncie Central next week in Sectional 13 play. Mt. Vernon (5-4, 3-4) is in the opposite half of the bracket, and visits Pendleton Heights in the game we will broadcast on HancockCountySports.com!


Elsewhere
Pendleton Heights 34, Greenfield-Central 3: The seventh-ranked Arabians have been on fire the last few weeks, and showed that again tonight. PH built an early 10-0 lead, extended it to a two-score game by halftime and pulled away in the second half. The Arabians finish the year with an 8-1 mark and 6-1 in the conference, showing a tremendous resurgence over the last two years. PH is a defending sectional champion and will go for back-to-back. PH visits Mt. Vernon in our HancockCountySports.com broadcast next week. G-C will host Muncie South in the other Sectional 13 bottom-bracket semifinal game.


Eastern Hancock 19, Edinburgh 0: The Royals register a shutout for the first time since 2005 in a victory over the Lancers. Coach Pat Echeverria's team wins two of its last three to head into the sectional. The Royals have shown themselves a strong team in the first year with a new head coach. At 3-6, they will visit Cambridge City Lincoln next week.


And in the HHC
Delta 45, Shelbyville 6: The Eagles are a force to be reckoned with, having won three straight games. Delta finishes the year 4-5 (6-3 on the field) and having allowed just 13 points the last two weeks. Eagles tie Greenfield-Central for 3rd in the conference with a 4-3 mark. Delta meets Frankfort in Sectional 13 action next week. Shelby hosts Columbus East in Sectional 15. Shelby is 1-8 (1-6).


Yorktown 28, Rushville 21: The Tigers win their second straight close game to finish in a fifth-place tie with Mt. Vernon in the HHC standings. Yorktown is now 3-4 in the HHC and 5-4 overall. Rushville is 2-7 (0-7) and has now dropped 15 straight HHC games.


Final HHC standings
New Palestine 7-0/9-0
Pendleton Heights 6-1/8-1
Greenfield-Central 4-3/5-4
Delta 4-3/4-5
Mt. Vernon 3-4/5-4
Yorktown 3-4/5-4
Shelbyville 1-6/1-8
Rushville 0-7/2-7


Final MIFC standings
Milan 5-0/8-1
Indian Creek 4-1/5-4
Triton Central 3-2/4-5
North Decatur 2-3/3-6
Eastern Hancock 1-4/3-6
South Decatur 0-5/2-7