BLUE DRAGONS FALL IN NJCAA TITLE GAME

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – Iowa Western stung the Hutchinson Community College football team with 17 points on its first three possessions of the NJCAA National Championship game and the Blue Dragons never got untracked on Wednesday night at War Memorial Stadium.

Making their second appearance in the national championship game in three seasons, the No. 1-ranked Blue Dragons fell to the third-seeded Reivers 31-0 in a rematch of a November 12 showdown in the final game of the regular season, won by the Blue Dragons 29-28.

The Blue Dragons suffered their first loss of the season and had the second-longest winning streak in program history of 17 games snapped, finishing the 2022 season 11-1. The 11 victories were the second most in the 90-year history of the program. Iowa Western won its second national title and finished 10-2.

Now with his third season in the books, Blue Dragon head coach Drew Dallas is 28-3 with three conference titles, one national championship and one national runner-up finish.

The Blue Dragons were held to a season-low 159 total yards, limited to 46 yards in the first half. Hutchinson had season lows of 147 passing and 12 rushing yards. Hutchinson also turned the ball over three times. The Dragons' deepest march into IWCC territory was the 28 yards line on two different occasions. Both drives were stopped on downs.

Iowa Western had 314 yards at halftime and finished the game with 404 total yards, including an opponent-high 288 rushing yards.

Tre Bess III was Hutchinson's leading rusher with 32 yards on five carries. Dylan Kedzior was limited to 13 yards on 15 carries.

Quarterback Dylan Laible finished 16 of 37 for 137 yards.

All-American Malik Benson caught five balls for 54 yards. Marcello Bussey had 38 yards on four receptions.

Dasheen Jackson had a career-high 10 tackles to lead the Dragons defensively. Terry Kirksey had eight tackles and R.J. Allen finished with seven tackles.

Hutchinson forced one takeaway in the game. With Reivers quarterback Andre Goodman sprinting for an apparent long touchdown run in the second quarter, Ja'Maric Morris chased him down and forced a fumble that was recovered by Javar Strong in the end zone for a touchback.

Goodman accounted for 228 total yards to lead Iowa Western. He rushed 17 times for 102 yards and completed 4 of 10 passes for 116 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown catch and run by LJ Fitzpatrick on the first drive of the game.

Iowa Western scored on its first three possession of the game. Over each of those first three drives, Iowa Western had a big play that either led directly to or set up a Reiver score.

Fitzpatrick's 68-yard catch and run gave Iowa Western a 7-0 lead with 13:10 left in the first quarter. Jaden Koger's 3-yard rushing touchdown capped a nine-play, 69 yard march for a 14-0 lead with 6:14 remaining. Sam Wilbur kicked a 31-yard field goal for a 17-0 IWCC lead with 2:30 left in the quarter.

The Dragons dodged a couple of bullets in the second quarter with the Morris forced fumble and Strong fumble recovery in the end zone and Iowa Western missing a 40-yard field goal on the final play of the half to keep the deficit at 17-0 at halftime.

Iowa Western scored touchdowns in each of the final two quarters, both Bryant Wiliams short scoring runs of 1 and 3 yards, respectively.

GAME NOTES – The last time the Blue Dragons were shut out was November 14, 2010, a streak of 137 games … The Blue Dragons had a five-game postseason win streak snapped and are now 16-8-2 all-time in NJCAA postseason games. … The Dragons are now 3-5 all-time against Iowa Western. … Dylan Laible completes his career with career records of 5,947 passing yards and 65 touchdowns. His 2,306 passing yards this season are sixth most and his 22 passing touchdowns are fifth most in Blue Dragon single-season history. … Malik Benson completes his Blue Dragon career with a team career record of 2,210 receiving yards. His 21 career receiving touchdowns are second most in team history. Benson's 977 receiving yards and 59 receptions this season are both fifth most in single-season Blue Dragon history.

BLUE DRAGON POSTGAME QUOTES
Sophomore Receiver Malik Benson
On the Blue Dragons' offensive struggles …
"We just couldn't find a rhythm. Early on in the game, we just kept telling each other it was going to click eventually. It just never clicked."
"We practiced and had 11 games before this, and playing in a national championship, but we tried to tell each other in the beginning that you can't let your emotions take over. It just wasn't our night."

On what his two seasons at HutchCC means to him …
"It's been nothing but blessings. I'm glad that I picked Hutchinson over any of my options. I would just tell any kid that has to go the juco route most definitely I would put myself in Hutch. The reason why I came was because of Alvin Kamara and Cordarrelle Patterson. Just being able to be with this great coaching staff and my teammates, this is the best thing that happened to me. It's made me a better leader, especially this year with all the accolades that I had. My teammates depended on me to be a leader. So, I've definitely grown as a leader. As a receiver, not a lot of people would think a kid from a small town in Kansas could do what I did. Every day I just had to put my head down and work, and the results kept paying off. "

Sophomore Running Kedzior
On the Blue Dragons' tough first quarter …
"They had a good plan coming out, and they probably shocked us a little bit how quick they started. The rest is history. It was a tough loss. It's a tough pill to swallow, but nonetheless I'm more than happy and more than blessed to have played with these guys. These are my brothers, and they'll always be my brothers. What we did this season, we accomplished a lot. I can't say more about that. We had a great season, and it didn't end how we wanted it to."

On Iowa Western's game plan …
"They game-planned us to a T. There's nothing else we can really speak about that. They knew what plays we were running. They knew what was coming. Ultimately, we didn't make the plays we needed to. The score looked bad."

Head coach Drew Dallas
On his initial thoughts of the game …
"That's football, and we didn't play our best. It's disappointing because we can play a lot better than we did obviously. You never want to take a loss, but when you feel like you don't play your best and don't give yourself a chance to be competitive, that hurts."

On Iowa Western's fast start …
"When you go down 14-0 right off the bat, it's hard to capture that momentum back without scoring, and we just didn't do that. We couldn't put the ball in the end zone and didn't get any points on the board, and you can't win a game without scoring. Regardless of what we were giving up defensively, just didn't play well. The momentum just wasn't there.

On the missed opportunities in the first half …
"We had opportunities to get back in it. We just didn't do it. There was a couple times where we were driving the football and ended up putting the ball on the ground (or) having a turnover. Obviously, getting down 14-0 start but then still having a shot to get back in it with a couple stops that they made and not taking advantage of it. That halts any progress you feel you made in the game."