New Palestine is on a eight-game streak of home wins, while Greenfield-Central is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The New Palestine Dragons will take on the Greenfield-Central Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. New Palestine knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past four matchups -- so hopefully Greenfield-Central likes a good challenge.
New Palestine can now show off six landslide victories after their most recent contest on Friday. They claimed a resounding 63-0 victory over New Castle at home. Given New Palestine's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 19th, while New Castle is ranked 150th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
New Palestine's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Grayson Thomas, who rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.5 yards per carry. Thomas is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last nine games he's played. Another player making a difference was Kyler Kropp, who gained 107 total yards and two touchdowns.
The team's defense also helped out by holding New Castle to a paltry -23 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to New Palestine's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out 4.5 times before it was all said and done. Leading the way was Cameron Rollyson and his three sacks.
Meanwhile, Greenfield-Central beat Pendleton Heights 27-17 on Friday.
Cooper Hinton and Jacob Hinton were among the main playmakers for Greenfield-Central as the former rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries and the latter rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Hinton was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 50 yards.
Their wins bumped New Palestine to 8-2 and Greenfield-Central to 9-1.
Keep an eye on the end zone in Friday's game as the two teams haven't had much trouble getting there this season. New Palestine commands a daunting offense this season, having averaged 5.4 touchdowns per game. However, it's not like Greenfield-Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 4.7 per game. With these two high-octane teams facing off on Friday, fans should be in for an exciting offensive matchup.
New Palestine was able to grind out a solid victory over Greenfield-Central in their previous matchup back in September, winning 21-14. Does New Palestine have another victory up their sleeve, or will Greenfield-Central turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
