Week 9 Football Preview: Dragons Vs. Delta

By Press release submission

Oct 15, 2022

It's Senior Night for the Dragons football team as it hosts Delta to close the 2022 regular season.

Game info

Delta Eagles (3-5, 1-5 HHC) at 4A #1/1 New Palestine Dragons (8-0, 6-0 HHC)

Time: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14

Site: Kelso Stadium, New Palestine

Tickets: $6, available at the gate and at https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=21409

Broadcast audio: NewPalRadio.com (pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.)

Broadcast video: https://www.ihsaatv.org/newpalestine/ (PPV, coverage begins at 7:25 p.m.)

SETTING THE SCENE

The Dragons return home to conclude the 55th regular season in school history and celebrate Senior Night against Delta. It’s the final regular-season home game for the Dragons’ 19 seniors.

A victory this week would give the Dragons the outright HHC title - their 12th HHC title and 22nd overall conference title. A win would give the Dragons their 11th outright HHC title in 14 years.

This is the 30th meeting between the Dragons and Eagles. Delta is the lone team in the HHC to have a winning record against New Palestine, having a 15-14 all-time record in the series, but the Dragons have won nine straight meetings and 12 of the last 13. Last year, the Dragons rushed for 314 yards and scored 52 first-half points in a 55-6 victory.

The Dragons are in possession of the HHC’s Helmet trophy. They held it from 2013-20 and regained possession after a 42-6 victory at Mt. Vernon in Week 4.

DRAGONS NOTES

The Dragons are seeking to close out the 12th unbeaten regular season in school history and their eighth in 10 years under coach Kyle Ralph.

The Dragons have not allowed a point in the first quarter this season, outscoring teams 118-0 in the opening 12 minutes. The Dragons have also not trailed this season.

Last week, the Dragons rolled up a 63-point first half in a 63-12 victory over New Castle. It marked the most points since a 2019 victory over New Castle, most points in a half since a 2018 victory over Delta. The 35-point second quarter was the most points since tallying 35 in a quarter against Shelbyville in 2019.

The Dragons have forced a running clock in seven consecutive games.

Senior Isaiah Thacker returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown last week, the second of his career and the Dragons’ first KOR for a TD since Thacker did so in last year’s sectional against Franklin. Thacker also reeled in five passes for 115 yards, his fourth career 100-yard game, and two scores. He now has 1,302 yards in a New Palestine uniform and moved up to fifth on the Dragons’ career receiving list. He needs 26 yards to catch Blake Austin for fourth.

Senior Blaine Nunnally tallied his second career pick-6 last week, intercepting a pass and taking it back 19 yards for a score. It was the second of his career and first since a 35-yard return in Week 3 of the 2021 season against Yorktown. It was the Dragons’ third pick-6 this season, joining ones by Eian Roudebush and A.J. Reierson.

Senior QB Danny Tippit now has 1,642 passing yards, the seventh-highest single-season total in NPHS history. He threw for 146 yards and two scores and ran for 76 yards and two scores last week.

Junior RB Grayson Thomas became the first Dragon to post three 1,000-yard rushing seasons in Week 7. He now has 3,511 career yards and 52 touchdowns for his career and is in third place on both the NPHS career rushing yards and scoring lists.

The Dragons are plus-16 in turnover ratio, with 20 takeaways and four giveaways. Daniel Thacker has four interceptions and a fumble recovery to lead the team.

Junior OL Ian Moore is the No. 1-rated offensive tackle nationally by Rivals, who has Moore rated as the No. 1 Class of 2024 prospect in the state and No. 33 in the nation.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

Delta has dropped five straight games after starting the season 3-0. The Eagles dropped a 28-6 decision to Greenfield-Central last week.

QB Kaiden Bond leads Delta’s offense with 865 passing yards. Defensively, senior Hunter Wallace had 14 tackles for loss and eight sacks.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Dragons open sectional play next week on the road at Mt. Vernon. The winner will face either Pendleton Heights or Greenfield-Central in the semifinal. If the Dragons win, they would host G-C but travel to PH.

All New Palestine games are broadcast free-to-listen at NewPalRadio.com. All home games are also video streamed at IHSAAtv.org on a pay-per-view basis.

NPHS Athletics is on Facebook (NewPalestineDragons), Twitter (@NPHSDragons) and online (NewPalestineAthletics.com).