CAPTION: Waymond Jordan Jr. (3) rushed for 213 yards and three touchdowns as the No. 3 Hutchinson Blue Dragon football team defeated Highland 44-0. CREDIT BLUE DRAGON SPORTS/HUTCHCC SPORTS INFORMATION
By John Mesh
The third-ranked Hutchinson Blue Dragon football team dominated the Highland Community College Scotties 44-0 and improved to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
Highland dropped to 5-5 overall and 1-5 in league play.
Hutchinson, which lost to Butler Community College 27-22 on Oct. 26 and dropped out of the No. 1 spot in the NJCAA Division I football poll, scored touchdowns on five of its seven first-half possessions.
“I was pleased with the way the guys played,” said Hutchinson coach Drew Dallas during his postgame radio interview. “It’s a stop in the right direction. We didn’t want to face it and we wanted have fun. We played clean football.”
HutchCC sophomore running back Waymond Jordan Jr. broke loose for touchdown runs of 8, 15 and 67 yards. He ran for 213 yards on 24 carries. Jordan has 1,097 rushing yards for the season with 17 touchdowns.
“He (Jordan) is pretty special,” Dallas said. “His effort was outstanding and he’s fun to watch.”
Jordan carried the ball three times on a 57-yard drive on Hutchinson Community College’s first series, including a 41-yard run and an 8-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 HutchCC lead with 13:37 left in the first quarter. Nestus Burger kicked the extra point.
Jordan scored his second touchdown of the game with 1:03 in the first quarter on a 15-yard run for a 13-0 HutchCC lead. Burger missed on the PAT kick.
Blue Dragons’ sophomore quarterback Samari Collier sprinted 21 yards for a touchdown with 11 minutes left in the second quarter. Burger’s PAT kick gave the Blue Dragons a 27-0 lead.
Collier, who did not play in the loss to Butler Community College because of injuries, hooked up with Derrick Salley Jr. and Tre Brown for touchdown passes of 54 and 33 yards and Burger kicked two PATs. The Blue Dragons led 34-0 at halftime and at the end of the third quarter.
“He (Collier) played efficiently,” Dallas said. “I thought the played well. It’s good to have him back.”
Burger was short on two 51-yard field goal attempts but made a 23-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter to make the score 37-0 HutchCC.
Jordan’s 67-yard TD run made the final score 44-0.
The Blue Dragon defense pitched its third shutout of the season and limited the Scotties to 136 total yards (74 rushing and 62 passing). Highland quarterback Gunnar Smith was third in the NJCAA with 261 passing yards per game.
Hutchinson rolled up 511 yards of total offense (277 rushing and 234 passing) and converted 7-for-13 third-down opportunities.
Collier passed for 149 yards and Christian Johnson added 85 passing yards.
Salley caught 3 passes for 93 yards and Brown 4 for 62. Benjamin Prosper, who played his freshman season at Highland CC, caught 5 passes for HutchCC for 47 yards.
The Blue Dragons will play their final regular-season game at Garden City Community College next Saturday. Kickoff at Broncbuster Stadium is 11 a.m.
Garden City lost at Iowa Central 49-45 on Saturday.
Hutchinson-Highland box statistics — https://www.bluedragonsports.com/sports/fball/2024-25/boxscores/20241109_5jde.xml?fbclid=IwY2xjawGcu8lleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZallsWw4NHNVpPejwLjO3xfYEKf5WgWn_jH7-sRu01_m7CAHbWpR1HuSg_aem_Tlt4uhk0njW02OnTkxn7hg