BLUE DRAGONS CLOSE REGULAR SEASON AT DODGE CITY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College Football Team looks to snap a three-game losing streak on Saturday as the Blue Dragons close out the 2017 regular season at the Dodge City Conquistadors.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Dodge City's Memorial Stadium.

The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5). The veteran broadcast team of Rusty Hilst (play-by-play) and Dan Naccarato (analysis) will call the action. The broadcast begins at 12:30 p.m. with Countdown to Kickoff.

The game will be videostreamed on the Blue Dragon Sports Network (www.bluedragonsports.com) about 12:50 p.m.

Off to a promising start in 2017, the Blue Dragons have since dropped three consecutive games - No. 16 Butler (38-10), No. 6 Independence (24-19) and surging Fort Scott (29-24) to drop to 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the Jayhawk Conference.

A disastrous third quarter cost the Blue Dragons last week against Fort Scott. Leading 10-7 at halftime, the Blue Dragons gave up 15 points in the third quarter and 22 unanswered points altogether to trail 29-10 with a little more than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Freshman quarterback Eric Forrest threw two touchdown passes in the final 7 minutes to close the gap to 29-24. But the rally fell one drive short as the Greyhounds forced a 4th-and-long from the Hutch 1 and forced a turnover on downs.

Forrest threw for 218 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Blue Dragons against Fort Scott.

Dodge City had an extra week to prepare for the Blue Dragons, but the Conquistadors' last game is probably still stinging. The Conquistadors dropped a 62-28 decision two weeks ago at Coffeyville.

Dodge City was picked to finish second in the Jayhawk and was off to a 3-1 start, but has since dropped 4 of its last 5.

Blue Dragon head coach Rion Rhoades will be looking for his 80th victory as the Hutchinson head coach. A victory on Saturday would give Rhoades the fastest track to 80 wins in program history. Rhoades will coach in his 124th game on the Blue Dragon sideline. All-time coaching wins leader Charles Sesher needed 131 games to reach 80 wins. John Matous needed 129 games to reach 80 victories.

The Blue Dragons are also looking to snap a two-game losing streak to Dodge City. Hutch lost 27-14 two years ago and 28-21 last season. Both of those games were at Gowans Stadium.

While the Blue Dragons will finish the regular season on Saturday, they still have one game remaining. With six victories, Hutchinson is bowl eligible and will likely play in the Salt City Bowl on December 2 at Gowans Stadium.