Wild night: Dragons win, clinch piece of HHC

What a wild game we had tonight at Greenfield-Central's Cougar Stadium.

Class 4A No. 1 New Palestine held on to beat Greenfield-Central 21-19 tonight, overcoming several big plays by the Cougars and an avalanche of momentum coming their way in the final 14 minutes.

The Dragons built an early 14-0 lead, but two Cougar big plays turned into touchdowns 14 seconds apart in the third, and another big play made it close.

Big plays were the name of the game as both defenses made it nearly impossible to have a sustained drive. The teams combined for nine turnovers in the game.

The game was also an emotional one, as the two teams combined for more than 180 yards in penalties, and those emotions often spilled into the crowd, which was a passionate one for both sides.

Things went NP's way early -- Scott Lyons ran the opening kickoff 91 yards to the G-C 3, setting up a TD by Austin Monday. After an exchange of turnovers, the Dragons' Connor Simmons hooked up with Brandon Collins from 50 yards out on 2nd-and-22 to make it a 14-0 game with four minutes to go in the opening quarter

The Dragon defense produced three takeaways on three G-C drives in the second, but the Cougars' blitzing defense stiffened when the Dragons would push into G-C territory.



After the teams traded field position for several drives in the third, G-C got a big play when QB Derek Conley broke off a 52-yard run, setting up a touchdown. Then, 14 seconds later, Brant Boles ran an interception in from 25 yards out. G-C missed both extra points -- a kick and a two-point conversion pass -- and the Dragons saw their lead shrink to 14-12 with 1:42 to go in the third.


Austin Monday broke several tackles in a 33-yard TD run with 1:49 left to make it a 21-12 game -- Wes Fox's extra point made it a two-possession game. That turned out to be key when Josh Applegate reeled in a deflected 52-yard TD pass for G-C one minute later. Brandon Wiggins recovered the ensuing on-side kick to give the Dragons the victory.


A fumbled snap gave the Cougars the ball in NP territory, but the Dragon defense held on a first-and-goal situation and forced a field goal attempt that went wide left. The Dragons were then able to respond with Monday's TD -- which came after Brandon Wiggins caught a huge 23-yard pass on third down to help the Dragons ice the game.


Monday ran for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Dragon QB Connor Simmons completed 14-of-29 passes for 238 yards and a TD -- his eighth 200+-yard game of the year. WR Brandon Collins had seven catches for 117 yards and a TD. Simmons will need less than 30 yards next week to break the 2,000-yard mark for the season. The Dragon defense produced five turnovers, while the Cougars had three interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Conley led a balanced G-C rushing attack with 65 yards. All in all, the Cougars gained 188 yards on the ground. The teams were dead-even in total yards. The teams were nearly dead-even in yards -- the Dragons had 293, the Cougars 288. But the Dragons were able to win their 16th straight regular-season game and 19th straight HHC game. And they became HHC champions for the second straight year.

NP is now 8-0 and 6-0 in conference play. G-C is 5-3 and 4-2 in HHC play, alone in third place.

Elsewhere in Hancock County
Delta 12, Mt. Vernon 7: Anthony Burnett returned to the Marauder lineup and scored a touchdown, but Delta was able to turn an early lead into the victory at Mt. Vernon Stadium. The Marauders fell to 5-3, and both teams are now 3-3 in the HHC standings.  

Shenandoah 53, Eastern Hancock 6: Shenandoah showed why it's one of the top small-school teams in Indiana with the victory tonight. Ranked No. 10 in Class 2A, the Raiders are unbeaten at 8-0. EH (2-6) plays at Edinburgh next week. 

Elsewhere in the HHC
Pendleton Heights 69, Rushville 3: The Arabians had a 21-0 lead at the end of one, built it to 35-3 at the half and rolled to a victory over the Lions. Ranked No. 9 in Class 4A, PH is now in second place in the HHC with a 5-1 mark and a 7-1 overall record. The Arabians host Greenfield-Central next week.

Yorktown 22, Shelbyville 21: Great game tonight at Shelbyville. Brody Runyon powered in for a two-point conversion in the closing minutes after QB Joe Todd scored on a quarterback sneak. The Tigers are now 4-4 (2-4). Shelby falls to 1-7 (1-5).

Standings
#1/4 New Palestine 6-0/8-0 (at MV)
#9/9 Pendleton Heights 5-1/7-1 (vs G-C)
Greenfield-Central 4-2/5-3 (at PH)
Mt. Vernon 3-3/5-3 (vs. NP)
Delta 3-3/3-5 (5-3 on the field, at Shelby)
Yorktown 2-4/4-4 (at Rushville)
Shelbyville 1-5/1-7 (vs. Delta)
Rushville 0-6/2-6 (vs. Yorktown)

Next Friday night: Join Andrew, Chris and Mike as they broadcast the Battle for the Boundary Rail between Mt. Vernon and New Palestine. The Dragons can clinch an outright HHC championship with a victory. Tune in at 7 p.m., kickoff is 7:30 on www.hancockcountysports.com