BENSON HEADS LIST OF 10 BLUE DRAGON ALL-AMERICANS

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Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College football team tied an all-time record for NJCAA All-Americans with 10 Blue Dragons earning spots on the 2022 NJCAA team, which was released on Tuesday.

Receiver Malik Benson made some history by becoming the first two-time first-team All-American in program history. He was the only first-team selection from the 2022 Blue Dragons who finished as Jayhawk Conference champion and NJCAA national runner-up, closing the season with an 11-1 record, which tied for the most wins in Hutchinson football history.

Benson and quarterback Dylan Laible, who was a 2021 honorable mention NJCAA All-American, are just the fourth and fifth Blue Dragons to earn All-America honors in consecutive seasons. Benson and Laible join Gordon Brown (1992-93), Excel Lucas (1994-95) and Cordarrelle Patterson (2010-11) in that exclusive group. Both Lucas and Patterson were second-team All-Americans as freshmen before earning first-team honors in their sophomore seasons. Brown was honorable mention as a freshman and second team as a sophomore.

Laible, running back Dylan Kedzior and offensive lineman J'onre Reed were all named to the 2022 second team.

Offensive lineman Dez'Mond Schuster, defensive lineman Jerrell Boykins Jr., defensive end Nikko Taylor, linebacker Terry Kirksey, defensive back Ja'Maric Morris and kicker Cole Segraves were all honorable-mention selections.

The 10 total selections for 2022 tied the 2020-21 Blue Dragons for most All-Americans chosen in a single season.

Completing the 91st season of football, the Blue Dragons now have 94 all-time NJCAA All-Americans, including 37 first-team selections. Counting other All-America teams, the Blue Dragon football team has produced 143 total All-Americans.

In head coach Drew Dallas' three seasons, the Blue Dragons have produced 26 NJCAA All-Americans.

Benson, a sophomore from Lansing, completed his two seasons with the Blue Dragons as the program's career leader in receiving yards with 2,210 yards. His 21 career receiving touchdowns are No. 2 in Blue Dragon history and his 102 career receptions rank third in Blue Dragon history. The Alabama commit authored 10 100-yard receiving games, including 4 of the top 8 receiving games in team history.

Benson caught 59 passes for 977 yards this season, both of those marks rank fifth in single-season Blue Dragon history.

Laible completed his three seasons with the Blue Dragons with career-best marks of 5,947 yards and 65 touchdowns. This season, Laible threw for 2,306 yards and 22 touchdowns, both which rank No. 5 on the Blue Dragon single-season lists.

Kedzior adds a second-team All-America award to his conference Player of the Year award. Kedzior became the 19th Blue Dragon in program history rush for 1,000 yards in a season, finishing with 1,092 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 6.95 yards per carry. Kedzior completed his three-year career with 1,445 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.

Reed and Schuster each started all 12 games in 2022 for the Blue Dragons and blocked for a unit that led the nation in scoring at 37.2 points per game. The Dragons led the KJCCC in rushing at 202.7 yards per game.

Boykins, Taylor, Kirksey and Morris were part of one of the nation's top defenses that entered the championship game tied for No. 1 in scoring defense.

Kirksey was the Blue Dragons leading tackler with 82 tackles. Taylor finished among the nation's leaders with both tackles for loss and quarterback sacks and had 44 total tackles this season. Boykins had 20 total tackles from his defensive tackle spot and Morris led the Blue Dragons with five interceptions, including two interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Segraves had an exceptional freshman season for the Blue Dragons. He tied a single-season record with 14 field goals in 21 attempts with a long of 46 yards. He made 53 of 54 extra points to finish with a team-high 95 points. He became the first Blue Dragon kicker to boot at least four field goals in a game since 2004 and he kicked an overtime 39-yard game winner to defeat No. 7 Iowa Central on Sept. 10 at Gowans Stadium.