New Palestine shuts out Bloomington South, ends playoff run for Panthers

It was a resilient month of November for the Bloomington High School South football team. The Panthers were down at some stage in each of their previous three playoff games. But on Friday, Bloomington South was not able to mount a comeback.

The Panthers closed their season with a 42–0 loss to New Palestine, ending any chance South had at playing for the Class 5A State Championship next week. Bloomington South finishes its 2025 campaign with an 11-2 record, earning Conference Indiana, Sectional, and Regional trophies.

Neither side of the ball for the Panthers was clicking during the game. On offense, Bloomington South finished the contest with 69 total yards rushing on 25 carries, while junior quarterback Duncan Combs went 14-of-24 for 144 yards.

Defensively, the Panthers could not stop the rushing attack of New Palestine. The Dragons compiled 259 yards on 39 carries from six different players. Senior quarterback Jacob Davis helped New Palestine roll to its 27th straight victory, through the air and on the ground. Davis threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 53 yards and a score.

The Panthers put themselves into a deep hole early in the game that they couldn’t climb out of, compared to previous weeks. New Palestine took its first drive 80 yards and ate up six minutes of the clock for a touchdown.

Bloomington South did have the Dragons stopped on a 4th-and-3 from the Panthers 37-yard line, but Davis broke free from the defense and rumbled 24 yards into the red zone. Davis then finished out the drive a couple of plays later with a 12-yard touchdown throw to junior wide receiver Landon Maddox (3 rec, 28 yds, 1 TD).

The bad start for Bloomington South got worse on the ensuing drive. A bad snap hit Combs in the helmet and was picked up by New Palestine linebacker and tight end Mason Oglesby.

The fumble set the Dragons up on South’s 48-yard line, a field position that an undefeated team, such as New Palestine (13-0), would exploit. The Dragons did just that, as a Davis keeper put them up 14-0 with 2:01 remaining in the first quarter.

And as the game moved into the second quarter, South still couldn’t find any momentum. The Panthers had to punt to open the quarter, and it took New Palestine only two plays to find the end zone again. Davis connected with Oglesby for a 92-yard touchdown less than a minute into the quarter.

With their backs against the wall, Bloomington South responded on its next possession. Combs found senior tight end Jalen Williams (6 rec, 75 yds) for a 52-yard reception that moved the Panthers to the 2-yard line. However, an offensive holding penalty backed them up to the 12.

South could only advance the ball to the 9-yard line, which brought out sophomore kicker Cohen Fischer for a 26-yard field goal attempt. It was a high snap, and Fischer’s kick went wide right, keeping the Panthers at zero on the scoreboard.

After possessions that ended in punts for both teams, New Palestine was back into the end zone with 2:41 on the clock before halftime. Senior running back Caden Jacobia (14 car, 91 yds, 2 TD) evaded a tackler and scored, but a missed extra point left the score at 27-0.

Coming out of the half, both teams started the third quarter with punts. This time, Bloomington South had the ball after the empty drives, with a chance to put points on the board for the first time during the game.

However, the game went from bad to worse, as Combs was intercepted by senior defensive back Connor Jacobia around midfield. Even after South regained possession, the game went from worse to even worse, as senior defensive backer Cameron Rollyson picked off Combs.

This time, New Palestine capitalized on the turnover. Caden Jacobia finished the drive from the 19-yard line, rumbling into the end zone, before a Davis two-point conversion score made it a 35-0 contest. The 35-point margin started the running clock.

With only 2:32 remaining in the third quarter and non-stop clock, South couldn’t get any points on the scoreboard. The Dragons scored their last touchdown with 3:06 left in the game after a 48-yard dash by senior running back Rudy Hubbard (3 car, 54 yds, 1 TD), ending the scoring at 42-0.

As the season comes to an end for Bloomington South, New Palestine will continue its quest for a Class 5A State Championship next Friday. Merrillville defeated Concord 41-14 to set up the game on Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.