(By Steve Carpenter, HCC Sports Information Director)

2015 QUARTERBACK CLASSIC

When: Friday-Saturday, October 30-31

Where: Hutchinson Sports Arena

Teams: Hutchinson, Labette, North Lake College, Sterling College JV

Daily Admission: $5 – Adults; $3 – Students; HCC All-Sport Tickets not valid this weekend; HCC students free with student ID

Live Stream: Hutchinson games only, starts approximately 7:20 p.m. each night

Twitter: @bluedragonsport

Friday’s schedule

3:30 p.m. – North Lake College vs. Sterling College JV

7:30 p.m. – Hutchinson vs. Labette

Saturday’s schedule

3:30 p.m. – Labette vs. Sterling College JV

7:30 p.m. – Hutchinson vs. North Lake College

There are just certain teams that will have ridiculously high expectations thrust upon it no matter the circumstance.

The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team is one of those programs. High, high, high expectations from their fans are usually accompanied by the national nods from those who cover junior college basketball are nothing new for the Blue Dragons.

So how does seventh-year head coach Steve Eck and his team handle those lofty hopes?

“You can’t pay attention to it that much,” Eck said. “You just have to coach the way you coach and let the guys play. It’s better than being ranked No. 100.

“We have some guys back this year who want to go further than last year.”

The 2015-16 Blue Dragons don’t have to worry about triple-digit national rankings. HCC starts the season ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA Preseason Men’s Division I poll and were tied with Coffeyville at the top of the Jayhawk Conference preseason coaches’ rankings.

Hutchinson opens the new season on Friday with the annual Quarterback Classic at the Sports Arena. HCC plays Labette at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and will meet North Lake College at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Sterling College junior varsity is the fourth team in the field. The other men’s game will be played at 3:30 p.m. each day.

The Blue Dragons return for key members of last season’s 29-7 team that won the Region VI Tournament and advanced to the NJCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 1994.

The leading returning scorer is sophomore guard Bashir Ahmed, who was first-team All-Jayhawk West, first-team All-Region VI and was an NJCAA All-American honorable mention selection. Last season, Ahmed (6-foot-7, 215 pounds, Bronx, NY) averaged 16.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Ahmed shot 45.5 percent from the field overall and 36.4 percent from 3-point range with a team-high 47 made 3-pointers.

Guard Akbar Hoffman (6’1, 170, Newark, NJ) also averaged in double figures at 10.7 points per game while shooting 38 percent from the field. He made 42 3-pointers and a 28.6 percent clip. Hoffman led last year’s team with 53 steals.

Guard/forward Keanu Pinder (6’8, 220, Perth Australia) is also back. His overall numbers weren’t impressive at 6.3 points and 6.5 rebounds, but Pinder played huge in Hutchinson’s run to a 20th Region VI championship. Pinder also blocked a team-high 68 shots last season.

Forward Moataz Aly (6’9, 225, Alexandria, Egypt) blocked 60 shots as a freshman. He averaged 1.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Eck is adding one transfer – Larry Dennis a Wichita athlete comes to HCC from Florida International – and seven freshmen to that group of sophomores as HCC embarks on a new one-division Jayhawk Conference.

“I don’t know about the No. 2 ranking in the country right now,” said Eck, who is 164-38 at Hutchinson. “We have some things to work through.”

One of the things to work through that Eck referred to is the preseason injury to point guard James Conley (6-2, 170, Derby). Conley is a quick guard who is strong defensively and likes to set up teammates to score offensively. No timetable has been set for his return.

Without Conley, Hoffman and Samajay Haynes-Jones (5-11, 170, Wichita) will run the point “by committee” according to Eck, who has climbed to No. 6 on the Blue Dragon coaching wins list.

When they aren’t at point guard, Hoffman and Haynes-Jones will be at the 2-guard spot.

Ahmed and Pinder, along with Shakur Juiston (6’7, 220, Paterson, NJ) and Tyler Kohl (6’4, 215, Allentown, PA) will be at the 3-guards. The forwards and centers will be covered by Pinder, Aly and Juiston. Also returning from injury last season is 6’7 Jawan Emery (Overland Park), who played only five games last season and Larry Dennis (6’8, 225, Wichita).

For the first time since the last 1970s, the Jayhawk Conference will be one division with 14 teams.

There are no longer West and East divisions in the Jayhawk this season and teams will play a staggered schedule. Hutchinson will play Seward County, Dodge City, Barton, Garden City, Colby and Cloud County twice this season. HCC will play the other seven schools only once – Neosho County, Independence and Cowley at home and Coffeyville, Allen, Pratt and Butler on the road – this season.

Hutchinson’s 19-game conference schedule opens on Monday, November 30 with Neosho County at the Sports Arena.

(HCC Sports Information)

HUTCHINSON – No. 13 Iowa Western won its seventh consecutive game and kept the Hutchinson Community College football team from breaking out of a midseason slump as the Reivers took advantage of five turnovers in a 35-15 win over HCC on Saturday at Gowans Stadium.

Hutchinson slips to 4-5 overall, dropping below .500 for the first time since 2007. HCC also dropped a fourth-straight home game at Gowans Stadium for the first time since 2006. Iowa Western improves to 7-2.

The Blue Dragons built a 9-3 lead after Gary Cross’ 30-yard touchdown reception with 9:10 to play in the second quarter. HCC was driving for more when Kane Stone intercepted a pass in the end zone for a touchback. The Reivers then marched 80 yards on eight plays over 1 minute, 13 seconds to take a 10-9 lead on a Jon Nzombo 1-yard touchdown with 17 seconds to play before halftime.

The third quarter was disastrous for Hutchinson as Iowa Western outgained the Dragons 67 to minus-6 and HCC had four turnovers, including a sack/fumble that was recovered by Iowa Western’s Detric Bing-Dukes in the end zone for a touchdown. HCC trailed 23-9 after three quarters.

The Blue Dragons racked up 300 total offensive yards, getting a combined 244 passing yards from Kylen Binn and Dimonic McKinzy. Tyren Jones led HCC’s ground attack with 50 yards on 19 carries. Hutchinson had a season-high five turnovers that Iowa Western scored 20 points from.

Binn started for the first time since Week 3 and completed 7 of 21 passes for 127 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. McKinzy was 8 of 10 for 117 yards and a touchdown and an interception.

Freshman receiver Gary Cross had a season-high 155 receiving yards on six catches and two touchdowns.

Iowa Western quarterback Zach Martin completed 27 of 43 passes for 305 yards with a touchdown and interception. That interception was made by HCC freshman Asher Goldston, who picked off his third pass in the last two games.

Iowa Western amassed 351 total yards, getting only 46 rushing yards against the Blue Dragons.

After the Dragon defense posted a three-and-out on Iowa Western’s first possession of the game, HCC worked the ball in position for a Tymony Bonilla career-long 35-yard field goal with 10:53 remaining in the first quarter. The Reivers tied the game on their next possession with a Bobby Patterson 26-yard field goal with 7:31 remaining in the first quarter.

Goldston intercepted Martin in the second quarter and returned it 41 yards to the Iowa Western 27. It took Hutchinson five plays to cash in when Cross caught a 30-yard strike from McKinzy for HCC’s first touchdown of the game. Iowa Western blocked the extra point, but Hutch led 9-3 with 9:10 remaining in the first half.

HCC’s next possession looked promising taking 14 plays to go from the Dragon 12 to the Reiver 2. The drive was kept alive with a spectacular Cross over-the-shoulder catch to the IWCC 4 on fourth-and-4. Two plays later, the drive stalled with Stone’s interception in the end zone.

The Reivers cashed in with an eight-play, 80-yard scoring march capped by Nzombo’s 1-yard touchdown with 17 seconds remaining. Iowa Western led 10-9 at halftime,

Iowa Western got Patterson field goals of 24 and 40 yards on its first two possessions of the third quarter to build a 16-9 lead with 8:10 remaining. HCC survived a fumble at the Dragon 37. HCC forced a punt after that miscue. But the Dragons didn’t survive the second as a sack/fumble rolled into the end zone – HCC’s fourth turnover of the quarter – for a Reiver touchdown and a 23-9 lead with 2:57 to play in the quarter.

The Blue Dragons still had life early in the fourth quarter when after a DeQuan Bowman 33-yard kickoff return to the HCC 39, Hutchinson drove 61 yards in four plays. Cross caught his second touchdown pass of the game, this from 14 yards from Binn to cut the Reiver lead to 26-15. Iowa Western again blocked the extra point and Darez Diggs ran it back for a defensive conversion to up the IWCC lead to 28-15 with 11:35 to play in the game.

Iowa Western tacked one a Martin 40-yard touchdown pass to Marshall Clark to round out the scoring.

Hutchinson will play its final regular-season home game next Saturday against Ellsworth in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Gowans Stadium.

GAME NOTES – HCC head coach Rion Rhoades coached his 100th game with the Blue Dragons on Saturday. … HCC is 0-2 all-time vs. Iowa Western. … With his one reception, DeQuan Bowman moved into sole possession of fifth place on the career receptions list with 77. He also became the sixth Blue Dragon receiver in history to reach 1,100 career receiving yards with 1,108.

(HCC Sports Information)

HIGHLAND – Saturday was a day where it felt like the Hutchinson Community College football team would take one step forward and two steps back.

The Blue Dragons had a touchdown called back on a penalty in the first quarter. When it looked like the Dragons were going to take the lead at halftime, another penalty stopped a drive and HCC misfired on fourth down. After a Treyvon Paulk touchdown run to pull the Blue Dragons within four points, Highland intercepted a potential two-point try pass and returned it for a defensive conversion.

Add to the fact that Highland quarterback Kahlil Render made several big plays and all that led to the Blue Dragons falling 31-12 to the Scotties at Kessinger Field.

The Blue Dragons fall to 4-4 overall and 2-4 in the Jayhawk Conference. HCC steps out of conference play for the next two weeks with a pair of home games against Iowa Western and Ellsworth. Highland improves to 4-3 and 3-1 in the Jayhawk.

Hutchinson was slightly outgained Highland 407-401, outrushed the Scotties 189-96, had a 4 minute, 2 second advantage in time of possession and was a plus-2 in turnover margin. Yet, the big-play capability of Render and the aforementioned mistakes by the Blue Dragons were too much to overcome.

Render completed 16 of 29 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a crippling 10-yard rushing touchdown that gave Highland a 24-12 lead with 11:06 to play in the fourth quarter.

Treyvon Paulk rushed a 33 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Blue Dragons offensively. DeQuan Bowman made six catches for 60 yards and Gary Cross had five receptions for 49 yards. Quarterback Kylen Binn came off the bench to complete 10 of 20 passes for 127 yards. Dimonic McKinzey was 9 of 16 for 85 yards.

The first quarter was played to a scoreless tie with the help of three Blue Dragon interceptions – two by Asher  Goldston and Jordan Noil. Two of the interceptions were in the end zone. Noil’s interception was returned to the HCC 13. A holding penalty and two negative yardage plays led to Paulk getting tackled in the end zone for a Highland safety two plays into the second quarter.

One play after Tymony Bonilla’s free kick, Render found Bob Pugh in stride for a 75-yard touchdown pass – the longest play of the season against Hutchinson – and the Scotties led 9-0 with 14:03 to play in the second quarter.

Two possessions later, the Blue Dragons took the ball at their own 2 yard line. The Dragons marched the entire distance in 12 plays, getting a 20-yard Paulk touchdown run. HCC lost some momentum, though, with a missed extra-point try. HCC trailed 9-6 with 5:59 to go in the second quarter.

Render’s next big play came late in the third quarter on third-and-7 from the 50. Render scrambled out of the pocket, threw against his body and completed a 48-yard pass to Troy Grant to the Dragon 2. Two plays later, Grant caught a 5-yard touchdown pass for a 16-6 Scotty lead with 53 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Hutchinson immediately answered with a five-play, 63-yard scoring march. Paulk burst up the middle for a 33-yard touchdown to pull within 16-12 with 14:28 to play in the fourth quarter. The Dragons went for two, but McKinzy’s pass was intercepted and returned for a defensive conversion by Damariu Brinson to give Highland an 18-12 lead.

HCC missed on its next two possessions, failing to convert on fourth down both times. Isaiah Ming’s 19-yard touchdown run with 3:42 to go finished off the Dragons.

Hutchinson will play Iowa Western at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Gowans Stadium.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons lose for just the third time in 34 all-time meetings against Highland. The Dragons are 12-3 at Highland. … The 19-point margin of defeat was the worst for Hutchinson against Highland. … Highland is only the second team this season to pass for 300 yards against HCC. … The Blue Dragons were 4 of 18 on third down and 2 of 6 on fourth down against the Scotties.

HCC Sports Information

HUTCHINSON – When it comes to conference or national weekly performance honors, offensive linemen have never been considered for those types of awards, which normally go to skilled-position players.

That all changed this week after Hutchinson Community College’s dominant overall rushing performance in a 49-14 victory over Garden City.

On Tuesday, sophomore center Tanner Stallings was named the Jayhawk Conference Offensive Player of the Week. On Wednesday, the NJCAA followed suit and tapped the 6-foot-1, 301-pound offensive lineman from Sterling the National Offensive Player of the Week.

Stallings has become the unquestioned leader of the Blue Dragon offensive line – which was minus two starters for last week’s game at Garden City. Stallings simply went out and led by example, garnering the highest grade of all the offensive linemen.

Stallings and the Blue Dragon offensive line paved the way for 493 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns against Garden City. It’s the first time the Blue Dragons have rushed for more than 400 yards as a team since 2011.

A deeper look into how well the offensive line worked was the fact that not one, not two, not three, but four HCC running backs had individual performances of 100 or more rushing yards in the game. Treyvon Paulk went for a team-high 137 yards, Tyren Jones ran for 119 yards and three touchdowns, Blaik Middleton had 105 rushing yards and two scores and Tre Griffin rumbled for 104 yards.

That’s the first time in Blue Dragon football history to have four 100-yard backs in a single game.

Stallings had two pancake blocks and seven key blocks that all led to runs of 10 or more yards in the game. He had the highest grade of any Blue Dragon offensive lineman in the game at 89 percent.

Stallings is the first Blue Dragon football player to earn National Player of the Week honors since Week 7 last season when running back Alvin Kamara and his memorable game against Coffeyville.

HCC Sports Information

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

GARDEN CITY – The No. 20-ranked Hutchinson Community College volleyball team completed a three-week, eight-match road trip on Wednesday night with a decisive 3-0 Jayhawk West victory over Garden City at the Perryman Athletic Complex.

For the second-straight match, the Blue Dragons had more than 10 service aces to keep Garden City generally out of system in a 25-22, 25-11, 25-10 victory.

Hutchinson improves to 21-6 overall and 10-1 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons maintain sole possession of first place in the conference. Garden City falls to 4-28 overall and 2-10 in the league.

Since HCC last played at the Sports Arena on Sept. 26, the Blue Dragons have traveled 2,042 miles to Colby, Liberal, West Plains, Mo., and Garden City. HCC went 5-3 on the long road trip, but close it out in impressive fashion.

After a tougher-than-expected opening set, the Blue Dragons outscored Garden City 50-21 in the final two sets, closing out the match on a 12-1 run.

After a season-high 14 aces against Miami-Date on Saturday, Hutchinson chalked up 12 aces against the Busters. Sophomores Maddi Cumpston, AubreyWilson and Jai Chapman had three aces each. Tarynn Stueder added two aces.

The Blue Dragons out-hit Garden City 42-25. The Busters had 14 of those kills in the opening set. HCC tallied five team blocks to Garden City’s two.

The Dragons had a balance attack with several players posting high hitting percentages.

Sophomore middle Petra Silic hit .571 with eight kills and no errors on 14 swings. She added two solo blocks and two block assists.

Wilson finished with eight kills on .467 hitting. She had a block assist and 17 set assists. Chapman had seven kills.

The Dragons got six kills each from Johanna Voss, Marija Martinovic and Katarina Nicic. Martinovic was a perfect 6 for 6 hitting. Voss hit .667 on nine attacks. Nicic hit .625 on eight swings.

Stueder posted a double-double with 22 assists and 10 digs. McKenzie Steele also had 10 digs.

The Blue Dragons scored the first six points of the match on kills and two Cumpston aces. The lead was still 9-4 on a Wilson ace and 12-6 on a Steele ace. After a Buster attack error, Garden City took a timeout trailing Hutchinson 16-8. The Busters came out of the timeout and went on a 7-1 run to pull within 17-15. A Dragon service error sliced the HCC margin to 21-20, but back-to-back kills from Silic and Wilson helped the Dragons regain control. Silic’s kill on set point gave HCC a 25-22 win.

The second set started tight with HCC leading 7-5, but the Blue Dragons reeled off seven unanswered points to lead 14-5 after a Johanna Voss kill. The Dragons started to dominate the match at that point. A Nicic kill gave Hutch its first 10-point lead in the set at 18-8. HCC closed the set on a 4-1 run to win it 25-11.

A couple of Chapman kills and a Wilson ace gave Hutchinson an early 9-3 lead in the third set. The lead grew to 12-4 on a double block by Voss and Martinovic, but the Busters bounced back with a 5-1 run to cut the lead to 13-9. A Silic kill ended that run and started a streak of 10-straight points that pulled HCC to match point. Silic had kills on the final two points of the set lift HCC to a 25-10 victory.

The Blue Dragons finally return home at 2 p.m. on Saturday to take on a surging Cloud County team at the Sports Arena.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KU Sports Information)– As the University of Kansas volleyball team continues to win at an unprecedented rate, its national ranking is following suit.

The Jayhawks (17-0, 5-0 Big 12) moved up one spot to No. 9 in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll released on Monday, after sweeping both Texas Tech and Iowa State last week. KU’s top-10 ranking is the highest in program history for the fourth consecutive week, joining a long list of program-bests this season, including best start to a season and longest winning streak.

“Being a top-10 team is really a great thing for our program, but we are not losing sight of our goals of improving each day to give ourselves the chance to win the Big 12 and perform at a high level in the postseason,” KU head coach Ray Bechard said.

The Jayhawks have been ranked in the top-25 for six consecutive weeks and have at least received votes in all eight of the AVCA’s weekly polls this season. Entering the 2015 season, the Jayhawks’ highest ranking was No. 17 on Dec. 23, 2013.

Kansas joins No. 1 USC as the two remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I volleyball. The Jayhawks are one of two top-10 teams from the Big 12 Conference (No. 2 Texas).

NCAA RPI
Kansas checks in at No. 8 in the most recent NCAA Rating Percentage Index (RPI) released on Monday.

TOP-RANKED OFFENSE
The Jayhawks lead the nation in offensive production, ranking No. 1 in hitting percentage (.323), kills (15.4), and assists (1.6). Sophomore setter Ainise Havili, this week’s Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, leads the nation in assists (12.5).

UP NEXT
Kansas returns to action on the road against Baylor on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT.

KU AVCA COACHES POLL WEEK-BY-WEEK 
WEEK: AVCA Rank (Record)
Preseason: rv (0-0)
Aug. 31: rv (3-0)
Sept. 7: 22 (6-0)
Sept. 14: 17 (9-0)
Sept. 21: 15 (12-0)
Sept. 28: 12 (14-0)
Oct. 5: 10 (15-0)
Oct. 12: 9 (17-0)