HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Despite trailing by 10 with 2:43 left, the Blue Dragons (4-3) found themselves only down 3 with 12 seconds left.

The opportunity was set up by an Adrian Cross fumble return from 6 yards out. Cam Jones had just been intercepted by the Panther defense when Deryl Bunton lost the ball on a carry out of the backfield one play later.

The touchdown made it 23-20 with 2:29 remaining. The Blue Dragon defense held and forced the Panthers to punt.

Cam Jones extended the Blue Dragon drive on a 23-yard run. His scramble put the Blue Dragons just inside field goal range.

In his last contest, Luke Niemeyer nailed his longest FG of the season from 46 yards out.

Niemeyer would be called on to hit from 54 with just 12 seconds left.

The snap and hold were good and Niemeyer’s kick had plenty of distance. The ball veered slightly left as it crossed the goal line and dinked off the left upright.

The ball fell harmlessly to the ground in the end zone. Ellsworth took a knee to run out the remaining 6 seconds.

The 54-yard FG would have easily been an HCC record.

HCC held a 13-10 halftime lead after a solid running performance from Otis Williams. Williams scored twice in the second quarter. Once from 8 yards out, the other from 4.

His 50-yard rush in the second led to his 4-yard TD.

Ellsworth (4-3) got the first score of the day on a 26-yard pass from Lamont Toney to Jamarius Way early in the second stanza.

The Blue Dragons claimed the lead after two TDs from Williams. HCC led 13-7 after a blocked PAT.

Ellsworth cut HCC’s lead heading into halftime with a 31-yard FG from Justin Wright.

Ellsworth scored the next two touchdowns to take a 10-point lead.

The TDs came courtesy of a 7-yard pass from Toney to Marcel Williams and a 54-yard run from Tekendrick Roberson.

Roberson’s romp came late in the fourth when HCC’s defense was trying to strip the ball.

The Blue Dragons would strip the ball on Ellsworth’s next possession to cut the Panther lead.

The Blue Dragons struggled through the air all game long. Cam Jones threw on target most of the day, but his receivers just couldn’t get a handle on the ball.

Jones finished with 16-of-39 passing for 137 yards, but 4 interceptions.

Otis Williams led the HCC rushing attack with 2 TDs and 146 yards. DeShawn Waller was listed as 50/50 to play today, but got game time and finished with 49 yards.

Tyler Harris and Otis Williams led HCC receivers with 25 yards each.

Lamont Toney threw for 179 yards and rushed for another 58.

Tekendrick Roberson finished with 92 yards on the ground.

HCC had 19 first downs, compared to 10 for Ellsworth, but the Blue Dragons were just 4 of 19 on third down.

HCC had a chance to take the lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, however, Cam Jones fumbled at the 1 on a QB sneak and Ellsworth returned it for a touchdown. The TD was called back on an unsportsmanlike penalty against Ryan Guthrie of the Panthers. As a lead blocker, he celebrated the TD too early and got flagged.

This was the second time Ellsworth had a TD called back. Earlier in the game, Juwan Petit-Frere could have walked into the end zone on a pass from Toney, but chose to dance in.

He was flagged at the half yard line for unsportsmanlike conduct.

FINAL: Ellsworth 23 HCC 20

The Blue Dragons (4-3) head to El Dorado next Saturday to take on Butler (3-3).

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Total game time will go down in the books as a two-hour contest, but the Blue Dragons (4-2) had the Coyotes under control five minutes into the game.

Leading 38-0 after one quarter, the game finished with a running clock. The third and fourth quarters were played with 12 minutes instead of the normal 15.

HCC forced Kansas Wesleyan’s JV to punt after taking the opening kickoff. Adrian Cross snagged the ball at the Coyote 48 and ran it in for the TD.

The Blue Dragons got the ball back and scored 3:25 later on an Otis Williams 40-yard scamper.

Cam Jones started at QB for HCC after a nice showing Saturday at Iowa Central. Jones hit Gary Cross in the corner of the end zone for the third Blue Dragon score. The 36-yard toss was one of two completions for Jones, who finished 2 of 2 with 61 yards.

Luke Niemeyer put HCC on the board again with the longest FG of his career. After misses inside 40 this year, Niemeyer bombed a 46 yarder with some help from the wind. His FG put HCC up 24-0 with just under 8 minutes left in the first quarter.

The next Blue Dragon strike came five minutes later on a 1-yard sneak from Chaz Capps.

V’onte Williams would cap off the HCC scoring in the first quarter with a 53-yard punt return.

The Blue Dragons scored on a record third punt return early in the second quarter when Adrian Cross took another one to the house, this time from 65 yards out.

Tre Griffin would score three minutes later on a 25-yard rush.

HCC led 58-0 at the half.

The Blue Dragons took the second half kickoff and moved the ball slowly with a running clock. They were able to possess the ball all of the third quarter and finish with 35:47 of possession time.

Despite struggling on third down this season, HCC went 5 of 7 on conversions Monday night.

The Blue Dragons converted their lone fourth down attempt and scored both times after entering the red zone.

Sam Corona led the Blue Dragon rushing attack in the fourth quarter with TD runs from 7 and 25 yards out.

Corona led all rushers with 115 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Otis Williams got six touches for 66 yards and a TD, while Tre Griffin saw the ball three times and scored.

The Blue Dragons averaged 8.2 yards a carry and racked up 328 yards of offense, 255 on the ground.

Meanwhile, HCC held KWU to one first down and -13 yards of offense on 30 plays. The Coyotes completed 8 of 14 passes for 18 yards and finished with -31 yards on the ground.

FINAL: HCC 64 KWU JV 0

HCC is back in action Oct. 15 against Ellsworth (2-3) in Gowans Stadium for a noon kickoff.

FORT DODGE, Iowa — The Blue Dragons held Iowa Central to six yards of rushing and sacked Triton quarterbacks eight times en route to a 38-0 victory.

HCC forced five turnovers. Adrian Cross picked off Caleb Sieler and Asher Goldston made Paul Campbell pay on a sideline throw. The Blue Dragons also recovered three fumbles. Iowa Central came into the game plagued as the third-worst team nationally in the fumble category.

Tre King opened up the HCC scoring with a 1-yard TD run. His 52-yard run set up the red zone opportunity.

Tre Griffin helped the Blue Dragons strike in the 2nd quarter with a 4-yard TD run.

Chaz Capps started the game 2 for 7 for 23 yards. He was sacked on a blindside blitz and fumbled the ball away to the Tritons. He would not see the field again.

Cam Jones was activated this week after Chris James was placed on the inactive list. Jones received too much pressure on his first few dropbacks to release a pass. When he finally fired one downfield, it was for a 70-yard touchdown.

His first pass of his college career, Jones found Tyler Harris wide open for the score.

Harris had a solid day punting by putting one of his three boots inside the 20 and averaging 50 yards a kick.

HCC entered intermission with a 21-0 advantage.

The Blue Dragons scored in the 3rd stanza on a Luke Niemeyer 20-yard field goal.

HCC would strike early in the 4th with a Cam Jones 1-yard sneak.

Otis Williams capped the scoring with a 33-yard TD scamper.

Four different Dragons scored on the ground. Otis Williams, Tre Griffin, Tre King and Cam Jones all scored for the HCC rushing attack.

Williams led the way with 189 yards. Griffin finished with 126. King had 68 yards with 52 of them on one play.

Jones finished 1 of 3 with a passing TD, while Capps finished his day 2 for 7.

HCC held Iowa Central to 158 total yards.

The Blue Dragons tallied 510 yards of offense. All but 93 came on the ground.

Iowa Central has lost 10 straight games dating back to Oct. 10 of last year. The Tritons are now 0-6.

FINAL: HCC 38 IC 0

Now 3-2, HCC will host Kansas Wesleyan’s JV Monday night at 6.