HUTCHINSON, KS — The No. 5-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team took another major step toward a Jayhawk Conference championship on Saturday night, scoring the game’s first 35 points as the Blue Dragons rolled past Garden City 44-14 at Gowans Stadium.
The Blue Dragons start the season 7-0 for the first time since 2010 and for the fifth time in team history. HCC is now 5-0 in the Jayhawk Conference to move closer to its first league championship since 1995. Garden City falls to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Jayhawk Conference.
Hutchinson extends its series-best win streak against the Broncbusters to seven-straight games.
Freshman running back Alvin Kamara went over 1,000 yards for the season and scored three more touchdowns to lead a Hutchinson offense that had the ball nine fewer minutes than Garden City, but rolled up 457 yards total offense to 321 for the Busters.
Defensively, the Blue Dragons forced a season-high six takeaways (three fumbles, three interceptions); including a season-high six quarterback sacks, 16 tackles for loss and one safety. Hutchinson held a fifth-straight opponent to less than 100 yards rushing, limiting Garden City to 45 yards on 40 carries.
Kamara led an HCC ground game that amassed 240 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. He became Hutchinson’s 17th 1,000-yard rusher and moved past Leonard Brice and Chris Anderson into 15th place on HCC’s single-season rushing list with 1,040 yards. Kamara went over 1,000 yards with a 40-yard jaunt late in the first half.
Kamara finished the game with a game-high 132 yards on just 11 carries and three touchdowns. It was his seventh-straight 100-yard game. Kamara now has 14 touchdowns in the last four games and 18 for the season.
Running back Bradan Smith rushed for 72 yards on 10 carries. Running back Travis Custis had 39 yards on eight carries, but tallied a career-best 100 receiving yards on just two receptions, including a 57-yard touchdown catch and run. Custis scored two touchdowns. Sophomore Bryce Harvey had a team-high five catches for 41 yards.
HCC’s quarterbacks combined for 217 yards and each threw a touchdown pass. Dalton Demos was 8 of 16 for 114 yards. Kylen Binn was 8 of 17 for 105 yards.
Kyle Wilson led the Dragons defensively with eight tackles. Jeremiah Ledbetter and Marquavius Lewis had two quarterback sacks each. Darius Wright, Lakel Bass and Riley Hunsicker all had interceptions, while Wright, Jarrod Sanders and Leslie Maruo had fumble recoveries.
Things started very quickly for the Blue Dragons. After Wright intercepted a Denarious Graham pass 19 yards to the Garden City 6, Kamara toted the ball two times and was into the end zone from 2 yards out just 1 minute, 9 seconds into the game for a 7-0 lead.
Two possessions later, Kamara broke containment again and sprinted 65 yards for a touchdown to give HCC a 14-0 lead with 5:08 to play in the first quarter. The Dragons had the ball just 2:59 of the opening period and led by 14 points.
Bass had an interception at the HCC 8 to stop a Buster threat. The Dragons marched 92 yards in six plays. Custis took a screen pass from Binn and weaved his way into open field and sprinted 57 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 Blue Dragon lead with 11:46 remaining in the half.
Demos connected with tight end John Gilbertson for a 7-yard touchdown and Kamara scored his third touchdown of the game with 4:48 to play to give HCC a 35-0 lead.
Leading 35-7, the Blue Dragons added nine third-quarter points. Maruo chased down Garden City punter Dequan Davis in the end zone for HCC’s second safety of the season. Later, Custis scored his second touchdown of the game on a 17-yard run for a 44-7 lead.
Garden City got a pair of Brandon Snell touchdown receptions of 5 and 11 yards for its only to scores of the game. Snell had six catches for 102 yards and Monterio Burchfield had seven receptions for 122 yards. Graham was 17 of 33 for 251 yards with one touchdown, three interceptions and was sacked seven times.
The Blue Dragons will play host to the Highland Scotties at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Gowans Stadium.
GAME NOTES – HCC head coach Rion Rhaodes tied Bill Goldsmith for third place on HCC’s all-times games coached list with 85. … HCC is now 36-37 overall vs. Garden City, including 18-15 in games played in Hutchinson. … Alvin Kamara tied Terrell Lane for third place on both the single-season touchdowns and points scored list with 18 and 108, respectively. … This was HCC’s seventh-straight game with at least 400 yards of total offense. … The Blue Dragons have had at least one interception in 15 consecutive games.
(HCC Sports Information)