Arabians fall victim to top-ranked Dragons

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NEW PALESTINE — When Pendleton Heights makes the short trip to Fortville to take on Mt. Vernon in a key Hoosier Heritage Conference football showdown on Friday, it’ll want to do some of the same things it accomplished in an impressive first-half performance against defending Class 5A state champion New Palestine.

Just some of the things, though, not all of them.

Before falling 47-6 on Sept. 20 to the Dragons — winners of 59-straight regular-season games and 44 consecutive HHC contests — the Arabians were impressive for the game’s first 24 minutes.

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“How they’re not ranked in Class 4A is beyond me,” New Palestine head coach Kyle Ralph said. “That’s a good football team, and coach (Jed) Richman does a tremendous job with those guys. They had a great plan. We knew the first half was going to be a battle.”

Pendleton Heights dominated possession in the first half. The Arabians had the ball for nearly 75 percent of the first two quarters, but in their 17:52 of possession, they had to settle for two field goals.

The Dragons scored twice, too, but they scored touchdowns in their six-plus minutes with the ball.

A 60-yard punt by New Palestine’s Eric Roudebush backed Pendleton Heights to its own 4, but the Arabians were able to convert four third-down tries to get down to the New Palestine 7. They couldn’t convert the fifth one and had to settle for a Nick Taylor 25-yard field goal.

On third-and-three on their own 11, Pendleton Heights running back Jack Elijah went for a seven-yard run. The next three first downs were converted on Kirby Hess passes. He connected with Tristan Ross for an 11-yard gain on third-and-10 from the Pendleton Heights 18.

Later, Hess hit Tyler McKinley on a nine-yard gain on third-and-eight from the Pendleton Heights 31. The big play was a 36-yarder to Clay Britt. It came on third-and-12 and got the Arabians down to the NP 16.

The drive took nearly nine minutes off the clock and cut the Dragons lead to 7-6.

The Dragons needed every bit of the 1:29 left on the clock to take a 14-6 halftime lead. It took eight plays; seven were rushes by all-star running back Charlie Spegal, getting the state’s all-time leading rusher in on a 1-yard run with just 1.3 to go.

Pendleton Heights led early. Its second possession of the game, started after a Spegal fumble, ended in a 32-yard Taylor field goal.

Again, it didn’t take long for the Dragons to answer, and when the Dragons answered it was with touchdowns.

On a drive that went 80 yards in just 1:59, NP quarterback Lincoln Roth scored on a 12-yard keeper for a 7-3 Dragons lead.

“You have to give (New Palestine) credit,” Richman said. “They really tightened up when we got down there. We didn’t execute as well, and that’s a credit to their defense more than anything. They had some nice adjustments in the second half and took away some of the things that we were being successful on.

“They’re an awfully good football team. You can’t beat yourselves. When they turn the ball over, we have to get seven, not three.”

The second half was all Dragons. Pendleton Heights had 10 first downs for the game, all coming in the first half.

“This was a championship atmosphere against a championship team,” Richman said. “You have to give the credit, and we’ll be better for it.”

Hess finished 6-of-15 with an interception and 79 yards. Britt was the top receiver with two catches for 38 yards. Kamden Earley led the rushers with 39 yards on 11 carries.

Friday’s game at Mt. Vernon marks the third-straight contest against Hancock County foes. The Arabians beat Greenfield-Central on homecoming, prior to falling to the top-ranked Dragons.

Both Pendleton Heights and Mt. Vernon are 3-2 overall. The Arabians are 2-1 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference. The Marauders are 1-2 with back-to-back losses to New Palestine and Delta, the only two teams unbeaten in the conference.

“Fortville is seven miles from our place,” Richman said. “There’s not much else you need to say with them. Our guys will be ready to go. There’s a lot of commonality community-wise. They’re a good opponent and well-coached. We have to be ready to go. There’s no time to sit around and feel sorry for yourself.

“That’s the life-lesson learned. You have to pick yourself up and go back to work.”

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