NO. 1 DRAGONS BEGIN STRETCH RUN WITH HIGHLAND AT GOWANS
BLUE DRAGON FOOTBALL |
No. 1 Hutchinson (5-0, 4-0) vs. Highland (1-4, 1-4) |
| When: Sunday, May 9, 2021 Where: Gowans Stadium, Hutchinson, KS Time: 1 p.m. Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9), 12:30 p.m. with Countdown to Kickoff – Glen Grunwald (pbp); Rob Dreher (color). Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 12:30 p.m. Twitter: @bluedragonsport CLICK FOR GAME NOTES (PDF Format) |
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The NJCAA No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team returns to Gowans Stadium on Sunday to begin the homestretch of the 2020-21 football season.
With two games remaining, the Blue Dragons control their path to an outright Jayhawk Conference title with home games remaining against Highland (1-4) on Sunday and Dodge City (1-3) next week.
Kickoff for Sunday's Mother's Day matchup against the Scotties is 1 p.m.
The Blue Dragons made it through the toughest part of their 2021 schedule with resounding wins over a pair of nationally ranked opponents - 23-7 over No. 3 Garden City on April 25 and 42-24 at No. 7 Independence last Sunday night.
The Blue Dragons are 4-0 in the Jayhawk Conference, followed by Garden City at 4-1, Coffeyville at 3-2 and Independence at 3-2.
Last week against the Pirates, back-up quarterback Dylan Laible came off the bench for an injured C.J. Ogbonna and threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns against a very good Pirate defense. Receiver Cortez Braham posted career highs of six receptions, 141 yards and became the first Blue Dragon receiver since 2014 to catch three touchdown passes in a game.
Defensively, the Blue Dragons limited Indy's vaunted rushing attack to 84 net yards, holding Tavion Thomas, the No. 4 rusher in the NJCAA to 35 yards on 12 carries. Marquise Gilbert had two second-half interceptions that thwarted a Pirate comeback attempt.
Highland beat Fort Scott 30-14 in its season opener but as dropped four straight since by an aggregate score of 190-17. Last week, the Scotties lost to Butler 34-7 in El Dorado.
The Scotties rank last in scoring offense, but are second in passing yards at 219.8 yards per game. Highland quarterback Quinn Buessing is completing 61.7 percent of his passes for 212.8 yards per game with three touchdowns and nine interceptions. Receivers Deontay Campbell, Cam McKinney and Raequan Prince have combined for 72 receptions, 830 yards and four touchdowns.
One year ago, the Blue Dragons went into the Highland game undefeated and ranked No. 1 only to get upset by the Scotties 29-27.
Sunday's matchup is the 39th in series history. The Blue Dragons own a 33-5 all-time record, including 21-0 all-time at Gowans Stadium.