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1973–2026 · finals 2014 and 2022; sectional titles read from the IHSAA's all-time list
Twice the Cougars played for the championship, and the record is plain about both: in 2014 New Prairie reached the Class 4A state final and lost to New Palestine 77–42; on 25 November 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium, the seventh-ranked Cougars (13–2) lost the Class 4A final to fourth-ranked East Central 37–7 — the IHSAA's account has the Trojans scoring on their first four possessions to lead 37–0 before New Prairie answered, the Cougars' touchdown a 21-yard run by M. Kmiecik in the fourth quarter. The 2022 team's coach was Casey McKim, in his third season, and its road ran through a 10–9 semistate defeat of Kokomo — the program's second semistate title, the first having come with the 2014 run. Below the finals, the association's own all-time sectional roll gives the program's full tournament spine, read from the IHSAA's list entire: ten sectional championships — 2004 (3A), 2006 (3A), 2013 (4A), 2014 (4A), 2017 (4A), 2019 (4A), 2021 (4A), 2022 (4A), 2023 (4A), 2024 (4A). The program's present holder is not dug in the sources read: who coaches New Prairie football as of the 2026 season stands as a named gap (GAP-NC5-SPO-2), settler the Tribune's 2026 season coverage and the school's athletics record — McKim's tenure prints at its documented 2022 strength and is not extended by assumption. Two finals, ten sectional titles, no championship: the roll prints exactly as the association keeps it.
Sources:
- IHSAA, "Football All-Time Sectional Championships" (ihsaa.org) — the New Prairie line read entire: 10 titles, 2004–2024, classes as printed.
- IHSAA, "East Central rolls by New Prairie for third state championship" (ihsaa.org), with the association's official scoring summary, 25 November 2022 — the 37–7 final, the 13–2 records, the Kmiecik touchdown.
- Notre Dame Insider / South Bend Tribune, 18–23 November 2022 — the 10–9 semistate defeat of Kokomo; Coach Casey McKim in his third season; the 2014 final's 77–42 loss to New Palestine; "seeking its first state championship in any sport."
- Indiana Football Digest, 2022 semistate insider — New Prairie's prior semistate title dated 2014.