New Palestine dominates fourth quarter in Class 5A state championship win

INDIANAPOLIS -- Josh Ranes knew he was going to get the ball. The New Palestine senior running back knew he was going to score.

“I had that feeling,” Ranes said. “You know that feeling? I had that feeling I was going to score – and I did.”

That feeling – the winning feeling – that followed Ranes’ 24-yard fourth quarter touchdown run in the Class 5A state championship at Lucas Oil Stadium is familiar to the fans wearing red and white on Friday night. A 38-17 victory over Merrillville makes it No. 5 for the Dragons in program history, all coming since 13th-year coach Kyle Ralph took over.

This one was punctuated by a 17-0 fourth quarter that took all the drama out of a game that was tied going into the fourth quarter. A nailbiter? Not really. Top-ranked New Palestine (14-0), as usual, was the better team in the final minutes.

“I guess all the sprints were worth it,” Ralph said. “I hope they were, at least. These guys are champions tonight. I guess all the hill runs, the sprints, and all the misery and the dawn patrol … I guess it was all for something.”

No. 5 Merrillville (11-3) gave the Dragons all they could handle, even after junior quarterback Michael Hill Jr. was forced to leave the game in the second quarter with what Merrillville coach Brad Seiss said appeared to be a broken collarbone.

The score was deadlocked, 17-17, with the ball resting at the Merrillville 24. Caden Jacobia, New Palestine’s starting running back, left the game with an injury following a 3-yard run. Ranes entered for the third-and-9 play.

The play looked good from the get-go. Ranes took the handoff from quarterback Jacob Davis and found the seam. At the Merrillville 15, he spun off a would-be tackle from Derrick Cannon Jr., regained his balance and strolled into the end zone.

“We were honestly close to popping a bunch of those all night long,” Ralph said of the third down call. “They just kind of stemmed a couple times in a row a little bit wrong. We just kind of hit the right seam in it. You know, it’s a little bit like Novocain. It’ll work, eventually. You hope it does, at least.”

Ranes’ run capped a 13-play, 78-yard drive that included senior quarterback Davis coming out of the game with an ankle injury after a long run. It was the second time Davis was forced to leave the game after injuring his throwing shoulder in the first half.

Davis returned to finish the drive, and the game, closing out his high school career with two state championships – last year in 4A and this year in 5A – and a perfect 28-0 record.

“Just an unbelievable finish from him,” Ralph said. “I know it wasn’t his best game tonight. He’s not going to be super proud of it when he watches the film. But that dude hasn’t lost a football game as our quarterback. He’s a back-to-back state champion and he lays his heart on the line every week. If that dude’s not in the Mr. Football conversation, I don’t know who is going to be. That resume is hard to beat.”

Davis finished with 129 rushing yards on 17 carries. Jacobia finished with 125 yards and two TDs on 26 carries and Ranes added 48 yards and two TDs on five carries as New Palestine ran for 312 yards on the night. Davis was 6-for-11 for 84 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted twice by Merrillville senior Keith Edwards on acrobatic plays.

After Ranes’ touchdown, Merrillville faced a fourth-and-1 at its own 20. The Pirates had three timeouts but with the clock ticking inside of seven minutes, Seiss decided to go for it. Backup quarterback Darnell Bowles Jr. dropped back to pass and was quickly swallowed up by blitzing linebacker Evan Walker. Bowles flipped the ball to JQ Johnson, who had nowhere to go and lost 13 yards. Two plays later, Jacobia scored on a 4-yard run to make it 31-17 with 5:54 left.

Lights out.

Would it have been different with a healthy Hill, who threw for 3,161 yards and 30 touchdowns coming into the state finals? Seiss did not want to play the hypothetical game. Hill was 8-for-10 passing for 62 yards, along with 15 rushing yards and a one TD when he went out.

“Both quarterbacks got beat up tonight,” Seiss said. “It’s just part of it. (Bowles) stepped up and did an admirable job considering he plays receiver on top of that. I’m most proud of our team not seeing the quarterback out and giving in. For us to go out and play well in the third quarter and give ourselves a chance … I’m really proud of our guys.”

After leading his fifth team to an undefeated state championship, Ralph joins Dick Dullaghan and Bud Wright as the only coaches in state history to accomplish the feat. There are not any shortcuts to getting where New Palestine typically finishes – getting its picture taken with the championship trophy on Thanksgiving weekend.

“Last year after we won state, two weeks later we’re back working,” Ranes said. “We’re just a hard-working program with a hard-working coach. I know that (the returning players) are going to be back in two weeks, and they better work their butts off.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.

New Palestine 38, Merrillville 17, F

Team

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

--

Total

New Palestine

7

10

0

21

--

38

Merrillville

7

7

3

0

--

17

Scoring summary

M -- Michael Hill 1 run (Benito Gonzalez kick)

N -- Landon Maddox 40 pass from Jacob Davis (Evan Walker kick)

N -- Walker 37 field goal

N -- Caden Jacobia 3 run (Walker kick)

M -- Mikel Smoot 55 pass from Darnell Bowles Jr. (Gonzalez kick)

M -- Gonzalez 34 field goal

N -- Josh Ranes 24 run (Walker kick)

N -- Jacobia 4 run (Walker kick)

N -- Ranes 2 run (Walker kick)

Passing -- M: Bowles 13-2-137-1, Hill 8-0-10-62-0. N: Jacob Davis 6-2-84-1.

Rushing -- M: Jac'Quarious Johnson 8-39, Hill 4-15-1, Cameron Jordan 4-14, Bowles 6-5. N: Davis 17-129, Jacobia 26-125-2, Ranes 5-48-2, Ryder Gardner 5-12.

Receiving -- M: Rynell Lewis 6-45, Jordan 5-40, Smoot 3-84-1, Dermont Bogard 3-22. N: Maddox 3-63-1, Mason Oglesby 2-1, Bryan Caldwell 1-20.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: New Palestine wins Class 5A state championship over Merrillville