Class 5A top-rated New Palestine eliminated second-ranked Cathedral from the 53rd annual Indiana High School Athletic Association football state tournament Friday night, 20-15, in a hard-fought, nail-biting sectional championship game. It was the 25th consecutive win for the reigning Class 4A state champion Dragons and their 31st straight victory at home. New Pal’s Ryder Gardner returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown that turned out to be the Dragons’ only first-half points. Cathedral sacked New Palestine quarterback Jacob Davis in the end zone for a safety early in the second quarter to put the Irish on the scoreboard. Jimmy Pappas returned the ensuing free kick 68 yards to the New Palestine 6-yard line. However, three plays later, Andrew Davis intercepted Cam Koers’ pass into the end zone. Van Krisiloff’s 36-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first half pulled Cathedral to within 7-5 at the intermission. In the middle of the third quarter, Jacob Davis concluded an 88-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring run to increase New Pal’s lead. A 42-yard Krisiloff field goal cut the Irish deficit to 14-8 with 2:40 remaining in the period. Davis then scored on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter to put the Dragons ahead 20-8 following a failed two-point conversion attempt. With 4:47 left, Koers marched the Fighting Irish 69 yards in 10 plays, throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to Nate Van Vierzen on fourth-and-one with 2:21 remaining. After a failed onside kick try, Cathedral’s defense kept New Palestine from getting a first down on three plays, as the Irish used all three timeouts, and forced a punt into the end zone, setting up one final drive from their own 20-yard line with 1:55 to go. Three plays later, Andrew Davis’s third interception of the night secured the Dragon victory. Cathedral’s offense outgained New Pal 246 yards to 214 yards. Koers completed 21 of 36 passes for 175 yards. The senior finishes his career eighth in school history for passing yards (2,783), fifth in passing attempts (405), and sixth in completions (237). The Fighting Irish defense limited New Palestine to just 14 points – well below the Dragons’ 51 point-per-game average, and just 66 yards on the ground, or 1.7 yards per rushing attempt. New Pal entered the contest averaging 268 yards rushing an outing and an impressive 9.5 yards per running play. With two field goals and a successful point after touchdown kick, Van Krisiloff extended his school records for most career kicking points (210), made field goals (33), and field goal attempts (50). The senior also finishes four seasons perfect on 111 PAT kick attempts. Cathedral exits the tournament with a 7-4 record, losing in the post-season’s sectional final round for the second consecutive year against a team ranked number one. New Palestine takes an 11-0 record to seventh-rated East Central for next Friday’s regional matchup of the last two Class 4A state champions. East Central is the last school to defeat New Pal, winning 49-0 at home against the Dragons in the 2023 4A semi-state.