New Palestine football makes history in 4A championship game

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The New Palestine High School football team is a state champion once again.

The Dragons (14-0) completed the perfect season on Friday afternoon by beating East Noble (13-1) by the final of 56-26 in the IHSAA 4A State Championship Game inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Dragons set an IHSAA 4A State Championship Game record by scoring 7 rushing touchdowns in the victory. The previous record for most rushing touchdowns in the 4A state title game was held by both New Palestine and New Prairie, when they each had 6 rushing touchdowns against each other during the 2014 championship game.

In fact, New Palestine running back Josh Ranes had four rushing touchdowns on his own. He finished with 166 rushing yards on 24 carries.

Meanwhile, his fellow running back Caden Jacobia also had a big day on the ground. Jacobia had 17 carries for 163 yards along with two rushing touchdowns.

New Palestine quarterback Jacob Davis had the other rushing touchdown for Dragons. Davis also threw a touchdown when he connected with wide receiver Austin McMahan for a 52-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

The Dragons just could not be stopped on offense. They finished with 511 yards of offense.

New Palestine’s defense played well too and limited East Noble’s offense. The Knights had 262 total yards of offense.

“I’m proud of our kids. I’m proud of our coaches and our community,” New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph said in a game recap posted to the IHSAA’s website. “What these boys do is special. It never gets tiring. It is tiring to do this, but you never get tired of winning, especially at this level and at a high level like we have. It’s hard to do. You have to be proud.”

It’s the Dragons fourth football state championship in program history. They are the 20th program in Indiana history to capture four high school football state titles.

It’s the Dragons’ first state championship since 2019.