East Central, New Palestine Prepare for Showdown in St. Leon

The winner will play for the Class 4A State Championship on Thanksgiving weekend.

East Central celebrates their 10th Regional Championship in program history. Photo by Travis Thayer, Eagle Country 99.3.

(St. Leon, Ind.) – The East Central Trojans are two wins away from becoming back-to-back state champions for the first time in program history.

The next step in the process is a semi-state matchup with #3 New Palestine (11-2).

East Central rolled to their 10th Regional Championship in program history last Friday in a 47-7 win at Evansville Memorial. The Trojans jumped all over the Tigers scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter on just 10 plays from scrimmage.

Josh Ringer continued his dominate senior season with 24 carries for 214 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns. For the season, Ringer has run for 2,512 yards and 50 touchdowns, making him one of the favorites to win Mr. Football. His backfield mate, Dylan Maxwell, carried the ball eight times for 117 yards (14.6 average).

Defensively, East Central held Memorial to 206 yards of total offensive, 60 of which came on the Tigers’ lone touchdown from sophomore running back Dylen Kendrick. The Trojans forced several three & outs, holding Memorial to 3-for-11 on 3rd down conversions.

This postseason, East Central has outscored their four opponents 212-34. They have surrendered double digit points to only Moeller and Martinsville, while no other team has scored more than seven points against the Trojans.

To further the point on how dominating the Trojans have been in 2023, they rank first in the state in points per game (49.9) and average margin of victory (43.5), and third in the state in defensive average (6.3).

New Palestine advanced to the semi-state with a 39-6 win over Mooresville. The Dragons held a narrow lead in the second half before blowing the game wide open with a 27-point 4th quarter.

Senior running back Grayson Thomas tied a career-high with five rushing touchdowns last week. He had 137 yards on 29 carries and now has 6,157 yards for his career. With 2,259 yards this season, he is second in Class 4A behind East Central’s Josh Ringer.

Defensively, the “Red Rage” as they are called, have been great in recent weeks. New Palestine’s first-unit defense has allowed just two touchdowns and 20 total points over the last seven weeks. In the postseason, the Dragons have outscored opponents 179-13 and the defense has scored more points (14) than allowed (12) in that span.

In Class 4A, New Palestine ranks in the Top 10 in points per game (38.8), points allowed (15.3), and 23.5 margin of victory (23.5).

Both East Central and New Palestine have been good at taking the ball away from opponents. The Trojans have forced 21 turnovers this season (14 INT, 7 fumble recoveries) while only turning the ball over three times (+18 TO Differential). The Dragons have forced 17 interceptions and 8 fumble recovers, but have given the ball away 16 times (8 INT, 8 fumbles lost) for a plus-nine turnover differential. 

Friday's matchup between two of the top three teams in Class 4A will feature plenty of star power. 

East Central boasts two Division I players in Josh Ringer (3-star, Miami Oh.) and Ryan Brotherton (3-star, Western Michigan), while New Palestine is led by senior offensive tackle and Army All-American Ian Moore (4-star, Ohio State), and junior defensive tackle Michael Thacker (3-star, undecided), who holds offers from Ball State, Tennessee, and West Virginia. 

East Central has the slight edge in the Sagarin with a 101.84 rating, good for 1st in Class 4A and 3rd statewide. New Palestine checks in at 94.13 (2nd in 4A, 9th statewide).

The winner will head to Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, November 25 for the Class 4A State Finals and will face either #9 Leo or NorthWood.

Eagle Country 99. 3 will have the semi-state call from Trojan Field on Friday beginning at 6:40 p.m.