Shelbyville football closes out its regular-season schedule against three of the top four teams in the Hoosier Heritage Conference standings. That gauntlet starts Friday night at Class 4A, No. 4 New Palestine.

The Dragons (4-2, 4-0 HHC) have won four straight since season-opening losses at Class 6A, No. 6 Westfield (5-1) and Class 5A, No. 9 Decatur Central (4-2) and are fresh off a scintillating 21-14 win last week at previously-unbeaten Greenfield-Central.

New Palestine features the HHC’s top running back in Grayson Thomas, who is thriving behind a stellar offensive line.

“That offensive line is massive,” said Shelbyville head coach Scott Fitzgerald. “I don’t know where they are getting all these guys in Hancock County.

“(Thomas) has a really nice line in front of him but he does a fantastic job. He will press the ‘A’ gap every time, then he makes his decision and he is gone. Whether he is popping it out and hitting the ‘A’ or hitting the ‘B,’ wherever he is going, he is going to hit it and hit it hard.”

Thomas, a senior, has rushed for 843 yards and seven touchdowns against four HHC opponents this season. He has more than 5,000 career rushing yards now and is the first Dragon to rush for 1,000 yards in four straight seasons.

“We have to try and hit him before he gets it going,” said Fitzgerald. “We did that at times against Yorktown and then we saw once we let them get loose a little bit, they were difficult to get to. It’s the same thing this week.”

Just putting pressure on Thomas (1,158 yards, 12 TDs) and sophomore quarterback Gavin Neal (33 of 69 passing, 728 yards, 7 TDs) will be difficult with size mismatches for Shelbyville all along the line of scrimmage.

We have to play low. If we stand up and they get their hands on us they will bury us,” said Fitzgerald. “We have to play low and use what we have and that’s our speed. We have to be able to move and do some different things, bring blitzes in different areas.

“Obviously when you do that you can leave yourself short in some areas but we can’t just sit. If we sit, they will get right after it and maul us over. We have to move. We have to adjust and we have to try and come from areas they are not expecting us to come from.”

Starting middle linebacker Brayden Schultz (photo) is back after missing the last three games. He is part of a young and Friday-night inexperienced defensive unit.

“In a lot of places we are young,” said Fitzgerald. “We have some great seniors. Some kids that have really led us all year long. We do have a lot of young guys contributing and doing good things and will learn from the experiences they are getting this year and hopefully be able to build off it.”

The best way to slow New Palestine’s offense, averaging 34 points per game, is to keep it off the field. However, Shelbyville has scored just one touchdown in its last five meetings with the Dragons and have been held scoreless in the last four.

“And that’s the big thing, there have been plays there,” said Fitzgerald of only scoring a combined 19 points in the last two games. “When you  go back and watch the film you see things. There are plays to be had there. We miss a corner route. We miss a fade route on another one. We miss a crosser. We could have had a first down and we had a mesh route and we had two guys standing in the middle and he goes for a different route.

“And we have to be able to run the ball. We did at times and then we would make some mistakes and miss a guy and that one guy was making the tackle in the backfield. We’ve got to be clicking. It’s tough to be on and then be off, then be on and be off as far as your play calling because you never get into a good rhythm.”

Shelbyville will be without starting right guard Connor Duncan (photo), who injured a knee during pre-game last Friday against Yorktown and did not play. Senior Bayler Ward got the emergency start and will fill that role again at New Palestine.

“Ward (photo) did a good job on Friday night stepping in.” said Fitzgerald.

One of Shelbyville’s top players the last two weeks has been first-year punter Ben Price (photo). The senior had a career-long 58-yard punt at Greenfield-Central and has averaged netting 38 yards on punts over the last two games.

“He is doing a great job,” said Fitzgerald. “I think last week he averaged a little over 42 yards for his punts. I think he is really enjoying it. He is kind of kicking himself for not doing it a little bit sooner. We’ve loved having him out there. He is doing a fantastic job.”

Fitzgerald knows he cannot sell his team on defeating New Palestine – recent history is not on his side. So the approach is much simpler.

“Play by play. Play by play, then after the first quarter let’s see where we’re at. At the end of the second quarter, let’s see where we’re at,” explained Fitzgerald. “Whether we’re up, whether we’re down or whether we are tied, we will think 0-0 to start the next quarter. Let’s try and battle and win the quarter. Then, at the end of the game we will see where we’re at.”

Shelbyville missed out on a golden opportunity to capture a fourth win last week in front of a large Homecoming crowd. The energy around the week-long build up to Homecoming did not go unnoticed by the coaching staff.

“It was a great week for the community and for the school,” said Fitzgerald. “I think they are really showing their spirit, really coming out and supporting us. We really appreciate that.

“Obviously, we wanted to put on a little better show but, again, I felt like the kids played hard. If you go back and watch things, it’s a play of two that really made the difference.”

QUICK FACTS

Shelbyville at Class 4A, No. 4 New Palestine

Game Time: 7 p.m. at Kelso Stadium at New Palestine High School.

Broadcast: New Palestine’s radio broadcast begins at 6 p.m. with a pregame show on NewPalRadio.com. Video coverage on ihsaatv.org starts at 6:55 p.m. There is a fee associated with the video broadcast.

2023 record: Shelbyville 3-2, 1-2 HHC; Class 4A, No. 4 New Palestine 4-2, 4-0 HHC.

Head coaches: Scott Fitzgerald, 3-3 in first year at Shelbyville; Kyle Ralph, 120-13 in 11^th year at New Palestine.

Sagarin ratings: Shelbyville, 47.30, No. 42 in Class 4A; New Palestine, 84.43, No. 3 in Class 4A. New Palestine is a 39-point favorite.

Last meeting: New Palestine defeated Shelbyville, 56-0 in 2022.

Series: Shelbyville won the first six meetings with New Palestine from 1997-2002 but the Dragons have dominated since then winning 17 of 20, including the last 10 which syncs up with the arrival of Kyle Ralph in New Palestine.

Around the HHC Friday: Delta (5-1, 3-1 HHC) at Pendleton Heights (4-2, 2-2); Class 4A, No. 7 Greenfield-Central (5-1, 3-1) at Yorktown (4-2, 2-2); Mt. Vernon (2-4, 1-3) at New Castle (1-5, 0-4).

Class 4A, Sectional 23 records: Greenwood 4-2; Connersville 2-4; Shelbyville 3-3; Class 4A, No. 1 East Central 6-0; Silver Creek 4-2; Edgewood 1-5; Jennings County 3-3; Martinsville 3-3.

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