Greenfield-Central is 0-10 against New Palestine since September of 2016 but things could change on Friday. The Greenfield-Central Cougars will challenge the New Palestine Dragons at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are still undefeated (Greenfield-Central has five wins , while New Palestine has three).
Last Friday, everything came up roses for Greenfield-Central on the road against Shelbyville as the squad secured a 49-6 win. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 35-6.
It was another big night for Dallas Freeman, who threw for 283 yards and four touchdowns while completing 73.9% of his passes, and also rushed for 35 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, New Palestine won against Mt. Vernon two weeks ago with 56 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. New Palestine simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Pendleton Heights 56-17 on the road. Given the Dragons' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 24th, while the Arabians are ranked 101st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Josh Ranes was his usual excellent self, rushing for 268 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.7 yards per carry. He really tore up the turf during one magnificent 75-yard run. Backing up that air attack was Gavin Neal, who rushed for 108 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: New Palestine was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 473 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted was before the start of last season.
New Palestine's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Connor Jacobia and Caden Jacobia. New Palestine got some further help from Michael Thacker: he picked up a sack and made seven total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Greenfield-Central's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-0. As for New Palestine, their record is now 4-0-1.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Greenfield-Central has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 223.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like New Palestine struggles in that department as they've been averaging 226.5. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Greenfield-Central took a serious blow against New Palestine in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, falling 35-0. Can Greenfield-Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
