MaxPreps Indiana Team of the Week: New Palestine football

When you win your first seven games by a combined score of 373-32, there would seem to be a drive.

For New Palestine, the push came from a season-ending loss in 2013, a humbling 49-14 defeat in the state 4A semifinals to Columbus East, the eventual state champion.

The lopsided loss came after 13 straight victories under then first-year coach Kyle Ralph, who inherited a program that was just 3-7 in 2012, with just four double-digit win seasons since 2004.

Ralph helped turn that all around, and has taken the Dragons to an entirely different level by averaging a state-best 53.2 points per game. The closest score was 31-3 and the largest margin of victory was a 72-3 win over Shelbyville last week.

For the team's drive and utter domination, New Palestine has been selected the MaxPreps Indiana Team of the Week, presented by the Indiana Army National Guard.

Ralph said last year's defeat was a huge learning experience.

"We learned a lot about how far we had to go to consider ourselves one of the elite teams in this state," he said. "(Last season) was a memorable and record breaking season for us but we fell short of the ultimate goal.

"Getting to the semifinals showed us how much our hard work paid off in regards to how far we came. Losing to East,though, showed us how much more work we had to put in if we wanted to ever get over the next hurdle."

And by all accounts — the proof is in the scores — the Dragons put in their due diligence during the offseason.

"Our kids did a tremendous job this offseason of pushing themselves every single day, whether it was in the weight room or out on the field conditioning," Ralph said. "We still have a long way to go this season but, regardless of how it ends, I am proud of our kids for all they have done to put us in the position we are in right now."

The Dragons are incredibly balanced, led by junior QB Alex Neligh who has thrown for 1,240 yards and 12 touchdowns (three interceptions). Senior James Young leads the team with 672 rushing yards and a state-best 17 touchdowns, but four others have rushed for more than 100, including Neligh (340), Sterling Curran (218), Chaz Hill (116) and Nick Brickens (103). Noah Grable and Duke Blackwell have combined for 43 catches and nine touchdowns.

"Our average yards per play is high and our turnovers are very minimal," Ralph said. "To couple with that our kids have executed very well overall offensively. At the end of the day the kids have to have attention to detail and accountability on the field and they have shown that. However, I would be remiss without saying our scoring total is largely in part because of our defense and special teams."

Defensively, senior Gabe Estes (10.4 tackles per game), Curran (9.4) and Hill (6.5) lead the way. Grabble has a team-high nine sacks and Estes has added eight, while Garrett Kuhn and Joesph Izbicki have three interceptions each.

"Our defense not only gets us the ball back quickly but has scored more points than they have surrendered this year," Ralph said. "Our special teams has done an excellent job of scoring (they have four special-teams touchdowns). We practice a tremendous amount of special teams and it has paid off."

It also helps to have a runner like Young, who not only produces on the field, but serves as a tremendous decoy.

"Everyone has focused on James this season because he was our workhorse running back last year and had over 1,200 yards as a junior," Ralph said. "Most teams have loaded the box to take him away so his yardage totals may not be what other people's are, but he has earned every one of them.

"He means an incredible amount to our team. He is without question one of the hardest workers I have ever been around, he trained amazingly hard this off-season to prepare his body to withstand the punishment of a long season, and he practices with 100 percent effort every single rep of every single day. He isn't the flashiest or most athletically gifted back in the state, he just gets the job done any way he can and the results have shown this year."