HUTCHINSON — The No. 11 Hutchinson Community College football team opened Jayhawk Conference play on Saturday with an impressive offensive showing in a 55-10 victory over Fort Scott at Gowans Stadium.
The Blue Dragons rolled up a season-best 658 total yards, snapping 90 offensive plays. Hutchinson broke the 300-yard mark in rushing for a second-straight week with 339 yards, averaging 6.9 yards per carry. The Dragons also threw for more than 300 yards in a game for the first time in nine games as three HCC quarterbacks combined for 319 yards via the airwaves.
It was the first time that the Blue Dragons have surpassed the 600-yard mark for total offense since 2012 when they rolled up a school-record 724 yards against Air Force Prep at Gowans Stadium.
Hutchinson (2-0, 1-0 Jayhawk Conference) reached milestone victory No. 450 in the program’s 83-year history. In doing so, the Blue Dragons defeated Fort Scott (1-1, 0-1) for the fifth-consecutive time.
HCC scored the game’s first 17 points. Fort Scott got on the board with a Devin Taylor 24-yard touchdown with 7:32 to play, but Hutchinson immediately responded with a six-play, 65-yard TD drive capped off by Travis Custis’ 1-yard TD for a 24-7 lead with 5:59 to play. That started a run of 31 unanswered Blue Dragon points.
Hutchinson had a pair of 100-yard running backs led by Custis, who had a season-high 146 rushing yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. Custis had a 74-yard run that didn’t go for a score. Alvin Kamara reached 100 yards for a second-straight game with 100 yards on 12 carries and a 41-yard sprint through the Fort Scott defense for a touchdown.
Quarterbacks Dalton Demos and Kylen Binn were both impressive on Saturday. Binn completed 11 of 15 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Binn added a pair of rushing touchdowns. Demos completed 12 of 24 passes for 142 yards. Ethan Loder was 2 of 2 for 29 yards for HCC.
DeQuan Bowman caught seven passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. He recovered a fumble in the end zone for a third TD in the game. Juwan Dickey had four catches for 42 yards.
Offensively, the Blue Dragons produced 29 first downs (14 rushing, 15 passing) and averaged 7.3 yards per play.
Fort Scott rolled up 294 yards total offense against Hutchinson with 201 coming on the ground. Taylor was once again a workhorse for the Greyhounds with 40 rushes totaling 207 yards and one touchdown.
Fort Scott quarterback Braxton Ross completed 6 of 12 passes for 93 yards. The Blue Dragons sacked Ross six times – two each from Jeremiah Ledbetter and Marquavius Lewis.
The Blue Dragons survived an early turnover and forced two Fort Scott punts before finally denting the scoreboard. HCC’s first scoring drive covered 57 yards in six plays, but it took a wild play to cap it off. Binn hit a wide open Logan Mays for a 29 yard completion to the Fort Scott 2. Mays fumbled the football into the end zone, which was recovered by Bowman for a touchdown and HCC led 7-0 with 4:31 to play in the opening period.
HCC broke the game open with a 24-7 second period to lead 31-7 at halftime.
Tymony Bonilla’s 32-yard field goal with 9:57 left in the second quarter boosted the HCC lead to 10-0. After forcing a three-and-out and a 17-yard punt placed the ball at the Greyhound 41, the Dragons needed just five plays to cover the distance as Bowman caught a 13-yard TD pass from Binn for a 17-0 lead with 9:57 to play in the second quarter.
Taylor’s 24-yard touchdown with 7:32 to play cut the HCC lead to 17-7, but the Blue Dragons immediately answered the Fort Scott challenge with a six-play, 65-yard scoring march that took just 1 minute, 33 second to complete. Custis had a 36-yard run to the Fort Scott 2 and after a Greyhound penalty, Custis finished off the drive with a 1-yard plunge and a 24-7 lead with 5:59 to play in the half.
HCC then scored in the two-minute offense. Going 71 yards in 11 plays over 3 minutes, 15 seconds, Binn rushed for an 8-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds left for a 31-7 Blue Dragon lead at halftime.
The Blue Dragons scored 17 points in the third quarter. Kamara blew through the Fort Scott defense for a 41-yard sprint to the end zone. Bonilla added a 33-yard field goal and Custis scored from 1 yard out for the second time in the game to give HCC a 48-7 lead after three quarters.
HCC’s only fourth-quarter score was a 2-yard Binn touchdown run with 9:36 remaining in the game.
The Blue Dragons go on the road for the first time this season next Saturday when they travel to No. 5 Butler for a 7 p.m. kickoff at B&G Products Stadium in El Dorado.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 38-32-1 all-time against Fort Scott, including 21-14-1 at Gowans Stadium. … This was the third time in the last five meetings with Fort Scott to surpass the 50-point mark. … The last time that HCC threw for 300 yards in a game was last season against Highland. … The Blue Dragons are now 49-34 in Jayhawk Conference openers, 1-1 vs. Fort Scott. … The Blue Dragons are now 43-1 under head coach Rion Rhoades when scoring 35 or more points. … The Dragons are 23-0 under Rhoades when holding an opponent to 10 or less points. … HCC was 10 of 18 on third-down conversions and 2 of 3 on fourth-down conversions. … HCC was 7 of 7 in Red Zone chances with five touchdowns and two field goals. … HCC cut its penalties way down from last week’s 17 to six for 40 yards against Fort Scott. … Lakel Bass had a team-high 11 tackles to lead the Blue Dragons.
(HCC Sports Information)