Three Dragons named IFCA All-State

Three members of New Palestine's HHC champion football team were named to the Indiana Football Coaches Association All-State team this week.

Quarterback Connor Simmons and WR/DBs Brandon Collins and Josh Penley were named to the IFCA Class 4A team. Collins was named to the team as a wide receiver, Penley as a defensive back.

For Collins and Penley, it's their second All-State selection and makes them consensus All-State picks. Both were also selected to the Associated Press All-State team, as selected by the state media, last week. The IFCA team is selected by the coaches. Greenfield-Central's Matt Dickerson was also selected to the AP All-State team last week. 

Collins set the New Palestine single-season and career receptions record this season with 60 catches, 923 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. His 923 yards comprise the biggest season ever by a New Palestine receiver, and his 60 season catches and 76 career catches are both school records. Collins is also second on New Palestine's career receiving yardage list behind 1993 graduate Jay Ehle with 1,141 career yards. 

He also had six interceptions, an interception return for a touchdown and two fumble recoveries as a defensive back. On offense, Penley had 883 receiving yards and 17 receiving touchdowns this season, setting the school touchdown receptions record with 17 for the season and 20 for his career.

Simmons also rewrote the New Palestine football record book, completing 174 passes for for 2,795 yards and 35 touchdowns this year. He broke the New Palestine single-season and career records for completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns, all of which had previously been held by either Mark Shepler since 1987 or Matt Rodgers since 1993. He holds the career records for passing yards (3,289), completions (212) and passing touchdowns (39). He completed 64 percent of his passes this season and ranked among the state leaders in passing yards and touchdowns this season. He also twice broke the single-game passing touchdowns record with five TD passes.

Together, they helped lead the Dragons to a 10-1 record, a second straight Hoosier Heritage Conference championship, an HHC-record 20-game winning streak in conference games, the No. 1 ranking in the AP Class 4A poll at the end of the season and the school's first unbeaten regular season since 1988.