DRAGONS DROP HEARTBREAKER AT NO. 12 IOWA WESTERN

HutchCC Sports Information

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – In one moment, the Hutchinson Community College football team when from a second-straight impressive comeback and upset of a nationally ranked team to a painful loss.

With nine seconds to go trailing Iowa Western by six points, B.J. Emmons dove over the pile into the end zone. But the Blue Dragons were whistled for a false start. With a 10-second runoff tacked on, time ran out and the Blue Dragons dropped a tough 27-21 decision to the Reivers at Titan Stadium.

The Blue Dragons fall to 1-1 overall heading into next Saturday's game at home with Rezolution Prep. Iowa Western is now 2-0.

Coming off a school-record 25-point comeback victory over Coffeyville, the Blue Dragons found themselves down 14-0 just 4 minutes into the game.

Hutchinson trailed 21-7 at halftime, but held the Reivers to two second half field goals to give itself a chance.

Jaylen Erwin caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Cam Jones with 14:54 to play in the game. The Dragons allowed a 27-yard Eddie Ogamba field goal with 7:48 to play and Hutch trails 27-21.

The Blue Dragons started their final drive on the Hutch 16. The Dragons needed 12 plays to march to the Iowa Western 2 after a personal foul on the Reivers with nine seconds to play. Hutch ran a direct snap to Emmons, who hurdled into the end zone, but the officials said the Blue Dragons weren't set at the snap. With no timeouts remaining, a 10-second runoff was assessed and the game was over.

The Blue Dragons had 318 total yards of offense, a season-high 206 rushing and 112 passing. Iowa Western had 165 yards on the ground and 173 yards in the air.

Deshawn Waller led the Blue Dragons with 95 rushing yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. Emmons had 92 uards on 14 carries. Jones was 14 of 20 passing for 112 yards and a touchdown.

The Blue Dragons committed three first-half turnovers in which the Reivers scored 14 points.

The Reivers took the opening drove the game the 59 yards for a touchdown with 12:01 to go. The Dragons had a bad shotgun snap two plays later that led to a Chester Graves 15-yad fumble return for a touchdown and a 14-0 Iowa Western lead with 11:07 to play.

The Dragons finally got the offense going. Set up by a 45-yard Adrian Cross punt return, the Dragons scored on a Waller 20-yard touchdown run with 5:44 to play in the opening quarter. Iowa Western answered with a 10-yard Mekhi 10-yard touchdown with 11:52 to play in the second for a 21-7 Reiver lead.

The Blue Dragons used a steady dose of the running game in the second half. Hutch marched the second-half kickoff 60 yards in 14 plays and capped it with an Emmons 4-yard touchdown run with 8:07 to play.

The Dragon defense faced several tough situations in the second half, but kept the Reivers out of the end zone, holding Iowa Western to six points and 93 total yards in the second.