(BY STEVE CARPENTER)
(HUTCHINSON CC SPORTS INFORMATION)

The rankings roller coaster the Hutchinson Community College football team has been on ended on an upswing on Monday.

Saturday’s 56-0 victory at No. 19 Iowa Central helped the Blue Dragons jump three spots to No. 3 when the poll was released on Monday. Only undefeated Mississippi Gulf Coast and undefeated Lackawanna were ranked higher than the Blue Dragons.

Consider the following facts and figures about the Blue Dragons for the NJCAA Rankings:

+ Hutchinson’s regular-season record was 9-2, losing two games by a grand total of three points to ranked teams on their home fields.

+ Hutchinson surged past Iowa Western this week. The Blue Dragons defeated Iowa Western 34-27 on September 7.

+ The Blue Dragons defeated both the Jayhawk Conference champion (Independence) and Iowa Conference champion (Iowa Central).

+ The Blue Dragons played and defeated the No. 2 team in the NJCAA rankings twice (Iowa Western and Butler).

+ The Blue Dragons spent five weeks at No. 1.

+ The Blue Dragons were 4-2 against ranked opponents, five of those games were played on the road.

The Jayhawk Conference has four teams in the Top 10. Along with Hutchinson, Butler is No. 7, Independence is No. 9 and Garden City is No. 10. Highland is receiving votes.

Now the Blue Dragons go after something that has happened only five times in program history, a 10-win season. The Dragons will play in the 12th annual Salt City Bowl on December 7 at Gowans Stadium. An opponent will be determined later this week.

 

Information Box

NJCAA FOOTBALL RANKINGS
	Record	Points	Last Poll
1. Mississippi Gulf Coast (14) 2. Lackawanna (2) 3. Hutchinson 4. Iowa Western 5. Northwest Mississippi 6. Kilgore 7. Butler 8. Hinds 9. Independence 10. Garden City 11. Jones 12. Georgia Military 13. Trinity Valley 14. Snow 15. ASA Brooklyn 16. East Mississippi 17. Navarro 18. Monroe College 19. Nassau 20. New Mexico Military	11-0 10-0 9-2 8-3 8-3 8-2 9-3 7-2 8-2 8-3 7-2 8-2 7-3 5-3 8-2 6-4 6-5 8-2 7-3 6-5	370.50 340.80 307.46 291.95 268.69 251.86 226.33 217.71 214.81 213.95 202.86 165.43 114.96 106.71 103.00 85.57 76.50 69.00 28.00 19.00	1 2 6 5 4 7 11 8 12 3 10 9 13 14 15 16 20 17 RV 18
Others Receiving Votes: Highland (6-4, 21.0); ASA Miami (7-3, 11.0); Central Lakes (6-5, 6.0); North Dakota SCS (8-2, 5.0); East Central (4-5, 4.1); DuPage (7-4, 3.0); Iowa Central (6-6, 2.0); Copiah-Lincoln (4-5, 1.6); Itasca (8-3, 1.0); Holmes (4-5, 0.7).