The No. 1 Hutchinson Blue Dragon football team defeated Independence 48-7 Saturday at Independence. HutchCC improved to 6-0 overall, 2-0 in conference play. (Blue Dragon Sports/HutchCC Sports Information).
The No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team faced its first Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference road test of the season on Saturday.
The Blue Dragons had to work hard to pass the test with a 24-7 victory over the Independence Pirates at Shulties Stadium in Independence.
The Blue Dragons improved to 6-0 (2-0 KJCC). The Pirates fell to (1-6, 0-5 KJCCC).
HutchCC’s Demarcus Johnson recovered a fumble at Indy 30-yard line to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Waymond Jordan Jr. at the 11:27 mark of the first quarter. Nestus Burger’s PAT kick gave the Blue Dragons a 7-0 lead.
Burger kicked a 33-yard field goal to give HutchCC a 10-0 lead with 10:08 left in the second quarter.
After Indy fumbled the ball away, Jordan scored on a 29-yard touchdown run with 6:40 left in the first half and Burger kicked the extra point for a 17-0 HutchCC lead.
Indy shocked the Blue Dragons with a 79-yard touchdown pass from Isaiah Nathaniel to Nathan Owens to cut HutchCC’s lead to 17-7 with 1:23 left in the first half.
The Blue Dragons answered the Indy touchdown with a 9-yard touchdown from Collier to Jordan to cap a 5-play, 59-yard scoring drive. Burger’s PAT kick with 31 seconds left in the first half gave HutchCC a 24-7 lead.
HutchCC’s Julius Bolden scored on 3-yard touchdown run with 7:15 left in the third quarter and Burger again booted the PAT for a 31-7 Blue Dragons’ lead. The touchdown finished off a 6-play, 33-yard drive.
With 4:58 left in the third quarter, HutchCC’s Kordell Gouldsby took a Pirate punt at the 50-yard line and weaved his way for a Blue Dragon touchdown. Burger added another PAT kick for a 38-7 lead. That was the score at the end of the third quarter.
HutchCC backup quarterback Christian Johnson scored on a 3-yard touchdown run and Burger kicked the extra point. The Blue Dragons led 45-7 with 12:56 left in the fourth quarter.
Burger kicked a 23-yard field goal with 5:46 left in the game to give the Blue Dragons their final score of 48-7.
The Blue Dragons’ offense rolled up 426 total yards (139 passing and 287 rushing) while the HutchCC defense held the Pirates to 170 total yards (181 passing and -11 rushing).
The Blue Dragons also had 231 yards on kick returns.
Collier was 13-of-23 passing for 104 yards and 1 touchdown. He also had 69 yards rushing. Johnson was 4-for-6 passing for 21 yards and added 35 yards rushing.
Jordan rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns and added a 9-yard touchdown catch.Bolden had 32 yards rushing and Titus Petteway 20.
Ja’Cory Thomas caught 3 passes for 39 yards. Tre Brown had 4 catches for 30. Seven other Blue Dragons caught passes.
Ghouldsby had 83 yards on 2 kickoff returns and 148 yards on 8 punt returns.
Nathaniel threw for 145 yards, Breyahn Townsend rushed for 30 yards on 9 carries and Owens caught 3 passes for 81 yards.
The Blue Dragon defense had 6 sacks and 12 TFLs (tackles for loss). Four Blue Dragons each had 4 tackles.
Tekeyla Neal led the Pirates with 11 tackles.
HutchCC posted its 16th consecutive win in a true road game. The old record of 14 straight road wins was set from 1946 to 1950.
The Blue Dragons are off to the ninth 6-0 start to a season in program history — the fourth in the past five seasons.
The Dragons are currently on a 20-game KJCCC winning streak that dates back to the second conference game of the 2021 season.
This is the second-longest KJCCC win streak by the Blue Dragons since reeling off 26-straight league wins from 1946 to 1950.
Hutchinson has defeated Independence in four straight games and seven of the last eight matchups against the Pirates.
This will be the first of two-straight trips into Montgomery County for the Blue Dragons, who play at No. 14 Coffeyville next Saturday.
No. 16 Hutchinson women’s soccer team pitches shutout against Coffeyville
The No. 16 Blue Dragon women’s soccer team shut out Coffeyville Community College 3-0 Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Coffeyville.
The Blue Dragons led at halftime 2-0. Haley Rogers scored both Blue Dragon goals with Katharina Marx assisting on both goals.
In the second half, Kaitlyn Edwards scored a goal off Marx’ third assist of the game. The hat trick of assists was a game-high mark for Marx.
Hutchinson improved to 8-2-4 overall and 7-2-4 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
HutchCC hosts Barton Community College at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Salthawk Sports Complex. The Blue Dragons play at Kansas City Kansas Community College at 1 p.m. next Saturday.
HutchCC’s final regular-season and KJCCC game is 4 p.m. on Oct. 26 at home against Cowley County Community College.
Coffeyville fell to 1-10-3 overall and 0-9-3 in the KJCCC. The Red Ravens host Cowley County at 5 p.m. Wednesday and play at Garden City Community College at 5 p.m. next Saturday.
Opening round of the Region 6 Tournament is Nov. 3.
HutchCC volleyball team 0-4 at Mineral Area tourney
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon volleyball team lost two matches Friday and two more on Saturday at the Mineral Area Cardinal Classic in Park Hills, Mo.
The matches were played at Sechrest Field House.
On Friday, the Blue Dragons fell to No. 15 Indian Hills (Iowa) 25-14, 15-15, 25-16 and Vincennes College, Ind., 25-20, 21-15, 25-18, 21-25, 12-15.
On Saturday, HutchCC lost to Missouri State University-West Plains 25-21, 25-21, 25-21 and Mineral Area College 25-19, 25-18, 25-23.
The Blue Dragons’ record is 12-17.
HutchCC hosts Garden City Community College at 6 p.m. Monday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragons travel to Concordia next Saturday to play the Thunderbirds of Cloud County Community College. The match starts at 3 p.m.
HutchCC runners compete in Cowley Tiger invite on Region 6 course
The No. 5 Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon men and No. 6 Blue Dragon women run got an early look at the Region 6 course at the Cowley Tiger Invitational cross country meet Saturday at the Kansas Veterans Home in Winfield.
At the Region VI preview, Blue Dragon runner Titus Kiprotich took fifth in the men’s 8,000-meter race (8K) with a time of 23:49.7 and Cornelius Kogo finished sixth in 23:59.2.
Thaddaeus Rotich placed 18th in 25:22, Farrin Mangelson 20th in 25:40.7, Kaden Lohrentz 21st in 25:47.4, David Ultreras 22nd in 26:04.9 and Blake Yoder 55th in 28:31.4.
The Blue Dragon men’s team placed third with 56 points. Butler Community College placed first with 38 points, followed by Crowder Community College with 52 points.
HutchCC’s Faith Jepchirchir won the women’s 5,000-meter race (5K) at the Region VI Preview at Cowley with a time of 16:55.4. Abigail Grantham finished 13th with a time of 19:35.2 and Laura Avila 16th in 19:53.1.
The HutchCC women’s team did not have enough runners competing to post a team score.
Hutch CC golfers ranked No. 2 in NJCAA I poll
The Hutchinson Community College men’s golf team moved up one spot to No. 2 in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek NJCAA Division I Rankings were released on Friday.
The Blue Dragons moved past Odessa after a strong performance in the Grier Jones Shocker Classic last weekend at Sand Creek Station.
The Dragons finished three strokes behind No. 1 Midland and eight strokes ahead of No. 4 Indian Hills.
Hutchinson will play in a primarily Division I Tournament on Monday and Tuesday at the Herb Wimberly Invitational.
The tournament host is New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M.