The Hutchinson Community College football team will play the Dakota College Lumberjacks in the fifth annual Salt City Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Kickoff is set for 1:07 p.m. at Gowans Stadium. The game will be televised live statewide by Cox Communications on Cox Cable Channel 22. Air time is set for 1 p.m.
Ticket information for the game and the Salt City Bowl Banquet, which will be on Friday, Dec. 6, will be announced at a later date.
Hutchinson will be making its 18th overall and fifth consecutive bowl appearance. The Blue Dragons are 9-6-2 in their bowl history, winning a program-record five bowl games dating back to the 2004 Heart of Texas Bowl. Last year, HCC defeated Iowa Central 41-21 in the Salt City Bowl.
Dakota College, which has played football since only 2009, will be making its first-ever bowl appearance.
The Blue Dragons will enter the 2013 Salt City Bowl with a 7-4 record. HCC finished in a three-way tie for second place in the Jayhawk Conference this season. HCC dropped a tough 24-21 decision to No. 6 Butler on Sunday in the Region VI championship game.
The Blue Dragons, whose schedule consisted of six games against nationally ranked teams, finished No. 18 in the final NJCAA poll of the regular season.
The Lumberjacks, who are designated as an independent in football, had a turnaround season in 2013. Dakota College went 8-2 this season after posting just a 1-6 record in 2012. The Lumberjacks’ only losses this season came to Iowa Central (66-19). Dakota College split with in-state rival North Dakota State College of Science. Each team won on the other’s home field this season in two close games.
The Lumberjacks are unranked in the NJCAA poll.
Offensively, Hutchinson enters the Salt City Bowl averaging 35.7 points per game and 372.5 yards of total offense. HCC averages 153.3 yards rushing and 219.3 yards passing. Defensively, HCC has improved greatly over the last half of the season. The Blue Dragons are allowing 20.6 points and 282.9 yards per game. HCC is surrendering 115.6 yards rushing and 167.4 yards passing and have forced 32 takeaways, including 23 interceptions.
Freshman quarterback Frankie Seurer will start his fourth consecutive game since replacing record-setting quarterback Luke Barnes in the Fort Scott Game. Seurer helped lead the biggest comeback in team history against Fort Scott (22 points). He had completed 79 of 132 passes for 925 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions.
Freshman Chase Abbington is HCC’s leading rushing with 748 yards on 153 attempts. Abbington, who has two 100-yard games, has eight touchdowns and averages 4.9 yards per carry. Chris Murray has 60 receptions, fourth most in a single season in HCC history, for 724 yards and nine touchdowns.
Defensively, linebacker Brock Long is the team leader with 96 tackles. Jaylon Myers has eight interceptions to lead a vaunted defensive secondary for HCC. Shattle Fenteng and Christian Goodlett have four picks apiece,
Dakota College is averaging 29.7 points and 326 total yards this season. The Lumberjacks have been balanced with 162 yards coming on the round and 164 yards passing per game. Defensively, the ’Jacks are stingy against the run, allowing 69.8 yards against the rush. Overall, Dakota College is allowing 19.5 points and 254.7 yards per game.
Shazzon Mumphrey is Dakota College’s quarterback. He had completed 103 of 225 passes this season for 1,559 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Jamarr Patterson is the Lumberjacks’ top rusher with 605 yards on 121 carries with six touchdowns and a 5.0 yard-per-carry average. Jonathan Parks leads the receiving corps with 33 catches for 511 yards and six touchdowns.
Dakota College has a strong return game. Da’Robert Tezina is averaging 28.9 yards per kickoff return with one touchdown.
Defensively, the Lumberjacks are led by O’Brea Williams, who had 47 tackles, two fumble recoveries and an interception. Keilin Mozee leads the ’Jacks with five interceptions.
Dakota College is located in Bottineau, N.D., which is just seven miles south of the U.S.-Canada border. The football team has players from 16 states and four from Washington D.C. Only three players on the roster are from North Dakota.
(HCC Sports Information)