Graphic courtesy of Blue Dragon Sports Information
Nestus Burger kicked a 36-yard walk-off field goal in overtime to lift to the No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon football team to a 33-30 victory over No. 12 Iowa Central Saturday afternoon at Gowans Stadium.
Burger is a 5-foot-10, 186-pound sophomore from Orkney, South Africa, and Perth, Western Australia, who just a few years ago was playing soccer at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., and had never kicked a football. In 2023, Burger kicked a school-record 50-yard field against Dodge City for HutchCC.
The Blue Dragons, who trailed 30-16 after giving up a Pick-6 interception, scored on two 15-yard touchdown passes by quarterback Samari Collier in a 3:05 span late in the fourth quarter on passes to tie the score at 30-30 — Tre Brown with 4:26 left in the game and Derrick Salley Jr. with 1:19 left.
Iowa Central was not able to score on its final series and the game went into overtime. The Tritons lost quarterback Trevon Taylor to an injury suffered during the final drive of regulation.
Iowa Central got the ball first in overtime but missed a 38-yard field goal.
“In those last six minutes left in the game, our backs were against the wall,” said HutchCC football coach Drew Dallas on his radio postgame show. “That’s a very good team (Iowa Central). We’re very fortunate to come out with a win. We just have to grow from this.
“I was proud of the guys. It’s so easy to fold. They didn’t do that. We found a way to win the game.”
Hutchinson cracked the scoreboard first for a 6-0 lead on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Collier to Salley Jr. with 1:46 left in the first quarter. The snap on the PAT was bobbled and the PAT run try failed.
Tritons’ kicker Nolan Gustafson, who kicked two field goals in Iowa Central’s 14-13 loss to Highland Community College last week, missed wide right on a 31-yard field goal attempt with 10:34 left in the second quarter.
Iowa Central took a 7-6 lead with 3:13 left in the first half on a 1-yard run and a Gustafson extra point. The Tritons took advantage of bad punt snap by the Blue Dragons to get into scoring position.
Tritons’ quarterback Trevon Taylor scored on a 2-yard TD run with 18 seconds left in the first half. Gustafson added the extra point for a 14-6 lead. The 14-6 margin was the halftime score.
Burger kicked a 35-yard field goal to cut Iowa Central’s lead to 14-9 with 10:12 left in the third quarter. The field goal capped a 10-play, 58-yard scoring drive.
The Tritons marched 64 yards in five plays and scored on a 1-yard TD run by Cyncir Bowers for a 21-9 lead at the 8:11 mark of the third quarter.
Hutchinson’s Waymond Jordan Jr. scored on a 2-yard TD run with 4:21 left in the third quarter to help the Dragons cut the Tritons’ lead to 21-15. Burger’s PAT kick made the score 21-16.
With 6:41 left in the game, the Blue Dragons forced Iowa Central to kick a 31-yard field goal to make the score 24-16.
Iowa Central’s Kadarius Williams then intercepted HutchCC’s Collier for a 53-yard Pick-6 to make the score 30-16 with 6:19 left in the game. The Tritons missed the extra point. It was the first Pick-6 for a Blue Dragons’ quarterback since 2019.
The Blue Dragons rolled up 434 yards in total offense (300 passing and 134 rushing) compared to 325 for the Tritons (198 passing and 127 rushing).
Collier completed 23-of-40 passes with three TDs and the pick-6 for 300 yards. He also ran for 89 yards on 14 carries.
Jordan, the back-to-back KJCCC Player of the Week with two 170+-rushing performances in the first two games of the season, was limited to 44 yards rushing.
Benson Prosper caught 6 passes for 80 yards, Brown caught 4 passes for 73, Salley 3 for 42, Titus Petteway 2 for 42, La’Terrius Robinson 2 for 34, Jordan 3 for 15, Ja’Cory Thomas 2 for 9 and Rayshawn Reynolds 1 for 5.
La’Modrick Spencer led the Dragons’ defense with 12 tackles, including 5 TFL (tackles for loss). Kollin Collier had 8 tackles and David Jester 6. HutchCc had 5 sacks for minus 35 yards.
Taylor completed 13-of-18 passes for 163 yards for the Tritons. Backup quarterback Tyler Smith passed for 35 yards and rushed for 45. Bowers ran for 66 yards with 1 TD and caught 4 passes for 75 yards. Jalen Lueth caught 5 passes for 64 yards. Austin Ayobamidele caught 1 pass for 37 yards.
Ryan Russo and Ra’jon Hill led the Tritons’ defense with 8 tackles each. Jawarren Corbin had 6 tackles, including 2.5 TFL.
Hutchinson is 9-1 all-time against Iowa Central.
After a bye week next Saturday, the Blue Dragons host Ellsworth (Iowa) Community College on Sept. 28 and Dodge City Community College on Oct. 5.
HutchCC women’s soccer team ties Barton 1-1
The No. 18-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s soccer team played Barton Community College to a 1-1 tie Saturday at Cougar Field in Great Bend.
The host Cougars scored the first goal of the game at the 43:33 mark and led at halftime 1-0. Fiona Jolly scored the goal on an assist by Leticia Quadros. It was Jolly’s 5th goal this season.
Hutchinson’s Kaitlyn Edwards scored a goal in the second half at the 72:26 mark on a Kira Artmann assist to tie to score at 1-1. Edwards has 7 goals this season for the Blue Dragons.
Barton had 10 shots on goal compared to 5 for HutchCC. HutchCC goal keeper Karen Slothower had 9 saves and Barton’s Mio Tanaka had 4 saves.
The Blue Dragons have a 4-1-2 record overall and are 3-1-2 in Jayhawk Conference play. Barton is 3-2-2 overall and 3-1-2 in league play.
HutchCC hosts Kansas City Kansas Community College at 6 p.m Wednesday at the Salthawk Soccer Complex.
Barton plays at Cowley County at 5 p.m. Wednesday and hosts Garden City at 3 p.m. Saturday.