#5 Pendleton Heights took an early lead and made two big plays in the passing game to answer scores and beat #1 New Palestine 24-13 to win the Class 4A Sectional 13 title Friday night.
Arabian quarterback Mitch Patishall threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns -- both to Austin Coffel, who had three catches for 36, 59 and 59 yards. The game featured 711 yards of offense -- the Arabians had 378, the Dragons 333.
PH running back Jon Furrow ran for 100 yards in the first half and had 101 total, as Jacob Lyons carried much of the load in the second half.
NP's Connor Simmons finished a fantastic career by throwing for 282 yards, completing 18-of-39 passes. He threw one touchdown pass, a 31-yarder to Tyler Walden that was his 35th of the year and 39th of his career. Unofficially, Simmons finishes with 2,793 yards for the season and 3,277 for his career. He holds all of New Palestine's passing records for season and career completions, yards and touchdowns. Brandon Collins' 6 catch, 74-yard night broke Jay Ehle's 18-year-old single-season receiving record.
Josh Penley had 98 receiving yards -- including a 48-yarder on the game's first play from scrimmage. The drive stalled at the 17 yard line, and PH answered with an 11-play, 83-yard drive that put the Arabians up 7-0 and set the tone for the rest of the night. NP answered on its third foray into PH territory with Simmons and Walden hooking up from 31 yards out with 5:10 left in the half to tie the game.
But both times NP scored, PH answered. Patishall hit Coffel from 36 yards out despite tough coverage from Dakota Smith just 2:53 after the Dragons took the lead, and PH led 14-7 through the third and into the fourth quarter. The Arabians would never relinquish the lead. NP's first drive of the second half stalled at the PH 11 on downs. After a near-miss -- Penley's perfect submarine tackle on 4th-and-1 stuffed a PH drive at the Dragon 23 -- NP finally broke through early in the fourth when Simmons went 5-for-5 on a drive, which finished with Austin Monday's 1-yard TD run with 10:45 left.
But the 20 seconds that turned the game happened. NP missed the game-tying extra point just barely wide left, and Patishall found Coffel behind the last defender for a 59-yard TD on the next play to make it a 21-13 game. NP had three more possessions, but could only muster one first down.
The season ended for the Dragons with an 11-1 record -- one of their best seasons in school history. They won their second straight Hoosier Heritage Conference title and were a lot of fun to watch and cover all season. We enjoyed being a small part of it by being able to bring eight different Dragons games live to you this season, including seven wins. Some of these Dragons will move on to play college football, but they accomplished much in their four-year careers -- two sectional titles, 20 straight HHC wins and a sectional title. Thanks for listening to us and following us all season.
Here are the media stories:
Daily Reporter | Anderson Herald-Bulletin | Indianapolis Star
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