Caleb Kolby stands only about 5-5, but New Palestine coach John Box figured before the season that Kolby had enough power to jump-start the Dragons.

“Caleb is the engine of our team,” Box said. “With the system we’re running, it really puts him in an ideal situation to be our main goal scorer. He sets the pace for everything that happens.”

Kolby has 14 goals and seven assists for New Palestine, which had an 8-1 after a 4-0 victory on Sept. 14 at Greenwood.

He scored four goals in a season-opening 7-0 victory over Yorktown; five in a 17-0 victory over Whiteland; and, in what he calls his best game of the year, two goals and three assists in a 5-1 victory over Franklin Central.

Last year, he had seven goals and four assists the entire season.

“The two forwards I’m working with (Brad Rusche and Steve Selke) have been making a lot of long runs and giving me the ball where I can score,” he said.

Kolby has been a starter since his freshman season, and Box decided to move into him into a more attacking position in the center midfield.

“I love it,” he said. “It just gives me more freedom to kind of play my game, to score and set my teammates up.”

Added Box: "He’s the engine for our team because his position basically is what makes our system of play and team function. It’s that key element. If he’s not actively engaged on the field, our team doesn’t run well.

“He is very, very, very passionate about the game. He eats, breathes and lives the game. You need someone with his kind of passion.”

Kolby credits his father, Thom, the owner of a New Palestine carpet-cleaning business, for that. Thom Kolby was his coach when he first started playing at the East Side Soccer Association on German Church Road.

“He really made me love the game,” Kolby said.

New Palestine has won four consecutive sectional titles but won the North Central Regional just once during that stretch.

“This is the best team I’ve ever played on,” Kolby said. “I think we have the potential to go very far if we play the way we can. Everyone works together.”

Box thinks Kolby will get a chance to play collegiately. “Caleb isn’t the biggest guy in the world, and he’s not going to out-physical you,” he said, “but he will outsmart you. It is a thinking man’s game, and he out-executes you.”