Franklinճ Lance Jones(31) knocks the ball away from New Palestine Grayson Thomas(4) during their Sectional 14 Semi-final game on October 29,2021. ROB BAKER | DAILY JOURNAL
Rob Baker | Daily Journal
NEW PALESTINE
Two very different special teams units showed up for New Palestine and Franklin on Friday night.
New Palestine’s came out on top with a safety, a forced fumble, a punt return touchdown, and a field goal to guide the Dragons to a 29-7 victory over the Grizzly Cubs in Class 5A sectional semifinal action.
Franklin (3-7) was able to limit the Dragons’ pass game but was unable to stop running back Grayson Thomas, who had 146 yards and one touchdown on the ground. Franklin’s offense, meanwhile, was unable to get any substantial offense, run or pass, all game.
“It was a wet night,” Franklin coach Chris Coll said. “We just had a couple of rough plays there that put us in a hole early. It is what it is. I thought defensively, we competed really well all night. I thought our defense played pretty damn well; proud of that effort. Offensively we battled and couldn’t really get anything going in the first half. We put together that one drive in the second half; that was a positive. We just dug ourselves too much of a hole.”
New Palestine (7-3) won the toss and opted to receive to start the game and marched all the way to Franklin’s 5-yard line, but John Shepard stopped the Dragons in their tracks on third and 5, bringing down Damon Hockett. New Pal coach Kyle Ralph opted to go for a field goal, and kicker Brandon Tanksley sank it perfectly to put Franklin down 3-0 with 8:06 left in the first quarter.
Franklin’s offense wouldn’t be allowed to respond, getting stopped at the 25-yard line and then fumbling the snap on a punt. New Palestine recovered the ball at Franklin’s 5, then scored shortly thereafter on a 1-yard run by Hockett.
Franklin’s offense again spun its wheels and was forced to punt, and this time another mistake led to a safety by Isiah Thacker and Trey Keele to bring the Dragons to a 12-0 lead. The Grizzly Cubs special teams continued to struggle, allowing a 65-yard punt return touchdown from Thacker that put Franklin in a 19-0 hole with 11:42 left until halftime.
Neither team made significant offensive progress again until the end of the half, when Tanksley hit another field goal as time expired to put the Dragons up 22-0.
The Grizzly Cubs put together their best drive of the night late in the third quarter, with running back Titus Phillips leading the way. Quarterback Clay Pinnick eventually jogged into the end zone to put Franklin on the board at 22-7 with 32.7 seconds left in the third quarter.
New Palestine responded by going to a slow and methodical run game that took the clock all the way to the 58-second mark of the fourth quarter. Thomas finished off the mammoth 20-play, 90-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.
While the Dragons will host a sectional championship with Whiteland next Friday, Coll is left with a bitter taste in his mouth from the loss.
“It sucks; there ain’t any way to put it,” he said. “I mean, it’s the end of the season. These seniors are done. Right now, the only thing I’m going to take away from it is a bad taste, and it sucks. That’s what you take away from a loss in the playoffs.”
