For the second-straight season, the Hutchinson Community College football team will finish in the Top 10 of the final NJCAA Football Poll.

Released on Monday, the 9-3 Blue Dragons finished ninth in the NJCAA poll. The Blue Dragons moved up five spots after dismantling No. 19 Lackawanna 70-20 on Saturday in the Salt City Bowl.

The appearance in the final NJCAA poll marks the fourth-straight season that the Blue Dragons have appeared in the final poll of the season. Last season, HCC finished 10-2 and would up No. 5, HCC’s first Top 10 finish to a season since 1995. In both 2009 and 2008, the Blue Dragons finished No. 13.

The Blue Dragons now match their longest-ever continuous run of appearing in the NJCAA poll with their 29th-straight appearance. That matches the Blue Dragons’ 29-poll run in the mid-1990s. HCC has appeared in 38 of the last 40 polls.

This season, the Blue Dragons have been ranked as high as No. 3 and as low as No. 15 in the national poll. Hutchinson went 4-2 against nationally ranked opponents.

This season, HCC set a national modern-day single-game scoring record with 90 points and also set a team scoring record with 601 points in 12 games. HCC broke the 70-point mark three times this season.

Hutchinson’s nine victories are the second most in team history, which has been done four times. The 2011 HCC sophomores tied for the second-most victories over a two-year period, matching the 1970 sophomores.

East Mississippi won the 2011 NJCAA national championship with a 55-47 victory over Arizona Western in the El Toro Bowl on Saturday.

Jayhawk Conference rival Butler defeated Trinity Valley on Sunday in the Citizen’s Bank Bowl to move past Arizona Western into the No. 2 spot in the final poll.

(HCC Sports Information)

FINAL 2011 NJCAA FOOTBALL NATIONAL POLL
Team                                          Record     Points     Last week
1. East Mississippi CC (7)               12-0          140               2
2. Butler CC (KS)                            11-1          127              3
3. Arizona Western College              11-1         123               1
4. Grand Rapids CC (MI)                  10-0         116               3
5. Navarro College (TX)                    10-2          113               6
6. Mississippi Gulf Coast CC           10-2          107               9    
7. Iowa Western CC                         9-2          103               8
8. Dean College (MA)                       8-1            90              11
9. Hutchinson CC (KS)                   9-3             84             14
10. Blinn College (TX)                       9-2            77               5
11. Trinity Valley CC (TX)                  8-3            66             10
12. Snow College (UT)                      9-3            64             16
13. Nassau CC (NY)                         8-2            62             13
14. New Mexico Military Institute       9-3            44             12
15. Hinds CC (MS)                           7-3            35             20
16. Glendale CC (AZ)                        8-4            31            18
17. Rochester CTC (MN)                  11-1           28              7
18. Tyler Junior College (TX)               7-4           18            RV
19. Eastern Arizona College               8-4           15            17
20. Iowa Central CC                           6-4           12            NR
Others Receiving Votes: Lackawanna College (PA), 7-4, 7; Scottsdale CC (AZ), 7-4, 7; Central Lakes College-Brainerd (MN), 7-6, 1.