EL DORADO – The Hutchinson Community College football team had two leads in the 2011 Region VI championship football game on Sunday. But once again, the Grizzlies found a way.

The eighth-ranked Blue Dragons had an 11-point first quarter lead and led by four mid-way through the third quarter, but the third-ranked Grizzlies took advantage of two third-quarter interceptions and rallied for a 40-21 victory at Blackmore Stadium.

The Blue Dragons, now 8-3, will now wait for an official announcement of an opponent for the third-annual Salt City Bowl on Dec. 3 at Gowans Stadium. The official bowl pairings will be announced after the final regular-season poll is released either late Monday or early Tuesday.

“Any time a team turns the ball over, it’s costly in a tight game,” Rhoades said. “When two good teams play like this, the team on the plus side of takeaways often wins.”

The Blue Dragons stung Butler early taking a 14-3 in the first quarter.

After a Grizzly field goal, the Dragons marched 62 yards in eight plays and scored HCC’s first offensive touchdown against Butler in four games on Elliott Alford’s 13-yard touchdown run with 2:33 to play in the opening period for a 7-3 lead. Then the Dragons parlayed a Duane Sims 37-yard interception return into a one-play 11-yard touchdown dash by Jatavious Stewart for a 14-3 lead with 1:23 to play.

Butler (10-1) used two big plays to lead 17-14 at halftime, but with 8 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, opportunity knocked on the Dragons’ door again.

HCC corralled Butler punter Connor Frazell after a high punt snap at the Grizzly 27. The Blue Dragons needed seven plays to navigate the distance and went on top 21-17 when Cordarrelle Patterson scored from 5 yards out on fourth-and-2. The last time HCC held a second-half lead against Butler was the 2008 Region VI championship game at Cessna Stadium in Wichita.

Patterson’s touchdown tied one career record and two single-season records with HCC great Mack Herron. Patterson now has 21 touchdowns and 126 points for the season and 192 career points. Herron played at HCC in 1966 and 1967).

Two possessions after HCC took the lead, Grizzly defensive back Zach Miller picked off the first of his three interceptions in the game and set the Grizzlies up on a short field. Butler went on to score the final 23 points of the game to send HCC to 1-5 in Region VI championship game appearances.

The Blue Dragons produced season-low totals in rushing yards (61 yards) and total offense (203 yards). The Dragons had a season-high four interceptions.

Alford completed 14 of 27 passes for 132 yards and was intercepted three times. Alford was sacked a season-high five times.

“I really wanted to beat them,” Alford said. “It’s getting old losing to them. We were up 14-3, and I felt we had a good chance. We kept going, and we would get the lead, but they came back and won.”

“The offensive line had a hard time holding up in the second half,” Rhoades said, “and they got some shots on our quarterback.”

Stewart had five catches for 50 yards. Kody Cook hauled in four catches for 25 yards. Patterson had three receptions for 36 yards and Miguel Johns had three catches for 31 yards.

Stewart was HCC’s leading rusher with 23 yards on six carries. He also completed one pass for 10 yards.

The Grizzlies ran for 305 yards and 521 total yards, the most the Blue Dragons have given up this season.

Derrick Thomas ran for a game-high 147 yards on 10 carries which included a 65-yard touchdown. Jasper Sanders ran 17 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Butler quarterback Chandler Whitmer was 16 of 30 passing for 216 yards and two touchdowns with an interception and was sacked once.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons have dropped 19 straight games to the Grizzlies. The Dragons are now 43-42-1 all time against Butler. … The Dragons are 18-20 all-time in Region VI playoff games. … Cordarrelle Patterson now ranks first in career receptions (105), second in receiving yards (1,714), tied for first in career points (192), first in career touchdowns (33), tied for second in single-season receptions (53), tied for first in single-season points (126) and tied for first in single-season touchdowns (21). … Elliott Alford now ranks second in career passing yards (3,740), which is 39 yards short of Roberts Coates’ record, first in career total offense (4,406) and second in single-season passing yards (2,560). … Ben Bradley’s blocked extra point in the third quarter was the Blue Dragons eighth blocked kick of the season.

(By Steve Carpenter, HCC Sports Information Director)