New Palestine High School

It took just 33 seconds for the Class 5A No. 1 New Palestine Dragons to make a statement to open the 2025 season. Within seven minutes, they had run seven offensive plays and had a four-touchdown lead, setting the stage for a 52-0 shutout victory over Kokomo. A Dragons team that returns 18 starters from a state championship squad looked in midseason form early. On their second play, returning All-State running back Josh Ranes took a handoff, appeared to be bottled up at the line, but spun out of a tackle and outran the Wildkats down the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown. That set the tone, and the Dragons had a classic New Palestine flurry after that, scoring 28 points in the game’s first 6:59. On NP’s fourth play from scrimmage, Caden Jacobia took a handoff, broke free, stiff-armed the last defender and galloped for a 61-yard score. The Dragons were relentless, amassing 358 yards in the first half and scoring on all but one possession to build a 45-0 lead before yielding to the reserves for the second half. Jacobia ran for 116 yards and a touchdown on three carries. Ranes had five carries, and carried for 83 yards and two scores. Quarterback Jacob Davis ran for 89 yards and a score and threw for 55 and a touchdown, behind an offensive line that dominated the line of scrimmage. The Dragons were just as impressive on the defensive front, holding Kokomo to 118 total yards, most of which came against NP’s backups in the second half. Garrett Ranes had eight tackles in the first half, as NP forced nine negative-yardage plays in the opening half. The Dragons’ special teams got in on the act early. After the defense forced the first of four consecutive three-and-outs on Kokomo’s second drive, Mason Oglesby blasted through the middle and blocked a Kokomo punt, recovering it in the end zone to put NP up 21-0. On the ensuing kickoff, Brady Lantz recovered a fumble, leading to a short three-play, 20-yard drive which was finished with a 1-yard run by Josh Ranes. The Dragons’ one blemish came on their next possession, as Davis was intercepted on a tipped pass in the red zone, but NP got the ball right back and a 42-yard run by Jacobia set up Davis for a 12-yard scramble to extend the lead to 35-0. On the next possession, Cameron Rollyson and Oglesby were both open on a pair of deep patterns. Rollyson reeled the pass in, but went down at the one-foot line. He caught a forward pitch on the next play for a score. Evan Walker finished off the first half with his first career field goal. The backups took over in the second half and held Kokomo out of the end zone - stopping a fourth-and-2 on their own 25 late, and following with a 12-play, 74-yard march orchestrated by Ryder Gardner, who finished it with a TD run. The Dragons head to Decatur Central next Friday, in a matchup of defending state championship teams. Week 1: Dragons 52, Kokomo 0 Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 at Walter Cross Field, Kokomo New Palestine (1-0) 28-17-0-7 -- 52 Kokomo (0-1) 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 Scoring summary NP-J.Ranes 61 run (Walker kick), 11:33 NP-Ca.Jacobia 69 run (Walker kick), 8:31 NP-Oglesby blocked punt recovery in end zone (Walker kick), 6:48 NP-J.Ranes 1 run (Walker kick), 5:01 NP-Davis 12 run (Walker kick), 9:21 NP-Rollyson 1 pass from Davis (Walker kick), 6:47 NP-Walker 30 FG, :00 NP-Gardner 7 run (Walker kick), 1:25 Team stats First downs: NP 15, K 6 Rushes-yards: NP 35-382, K 20-27 Passing C-A-I: NP 4-8-1, K 10-20-0 Passing yards: NP 55, K 91 Total plays-yards: NP 43-437, K 40-118 Fumbles-lost: NP 0-0, K 1-1 Penalties-yards: NP 9-61, K 4-20 Punts-avg: NP 1-28.0, K 4-18.2 Time of possession: NP 24:03, K 23:57 Individual stats New Palestine Rushing: Ca.Jacobia 3-116, Davis 9-89, J.Ranes 5-83, Parks 5-36, Gardner 4-28, Hubbard 5-16, Stephens 2-9, Estes 2-5. Passing: Davis 4-8-1-55 Receiving: Rollyson 2-36, Oglesby 2-19 Kokomo Rushing: Ross 11-32, Humphries 6-2, Smith 1-0, Powell 2-(-7) Passing: Humphries 10-20-0-91 Receiving: Greene 4-21, Young 2-50, Reed 2-21, Smith 1-3, Ross 1-(-4)