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Author: Glen Grunwald

Blue Dragons clinch Jayhawk Championship

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fb110814HUTCHINSON, Ks – For the first time since 1995, the Hutchinson Community College football team can call itself a Jayhawk Conference Champion.

Using a make-shift offensive line-up – not by choice – the No. 5-ranked Blue Dragons won the conference title outright after a 24-6 victory over Independence on Saturday at Gowans Stadium.

The Blue Dragons went 7-0 in the conference season to claim the program’s seventh conference championship, its first since 1995 when it shared the title with Garden City. The last time that Hutchinson won a Jayhawk Conference title outright was 1969.

Now 10-1, Hutchinson tied a team record for victories in a season, matching the 1947, 1948, 1969, 1995 and 2010 teams for that honor. The Blue Dragons will go after an unprecedented 11th victory in a season on Dec. 6 in the Salt City Bowl. Bowl invitations will go out on Tuesday.

Hutchinson took its first possession of the game methodically downfield, covering 79 yards in 13 plays to score the game’s first touchdown. Along the way, the Blue Dragons lost the services of running backs Travis Custis and Bradan Smith and quarterback Dalton Demos for the game with injuries. Later, fourth-string running back Tory Smith was knocked out of the game.

That meant that fifth-string running back Gage McAtee got a bulk of the carries and HCC was forced to use DeQuan Bowman as a sixth option when McAtee was injured. Bowman wound up being Hutchinson’s leading rusher with 58 yards on four carries. McAtee had 16 carries for 27 yards.

The injury to Demos, sustained on a 6-yard scrambling touchdown on the game’s opening drive, put freshman Kylen Binn in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the game. Binn was 22 of 37 passing for 296 yards and one touchdown.

Bowman was also HCC’s leading receiver with a season-high-tying seven receptions for 117 yards.

The Blue Dragons racked up 482 yards against the Pirates (0-10, 0-7). HCC passed for a season-high 346 yards and rushed for a season-low 136 yards. HCC also had three turnovers.

Defensively, the Blue Dragons were dominant, especially in the first half where Independence had just 99 total yards. The Pirates finished with 291 total yards, 147 rushing and 144 passing.

Kyle Wilson had a season-high 13 tackles and Lakel Bass had nine tackles to head HCC’s defense, which forced three takeaways.

Hutchinson led 7-0 after one quarter. As the quarter changed, the Dragons were in the midst of a long offensive possession that lasted a season-high 18 plays and covered 73 yards. HCC drive to the Independence 4, but a holding penalty wiped out a touchdown and the Dragons had to settle for a 32-yard Kassidy Lemons field goal. The Dragons led 10-0 with 11:41 to play in the second quarter.

Methodical again on its next possession, HCC drove to the Independence 9 and the 12-plays drive stalled again. Lemons lined up for a 26-yard field goal attempt, but holder Jovante Siglar received a bouncing snap and was forced to improvise. After securing the ball, Siglar scrambled to his right to buy time and then threw back across the field to a wide-open Curtis Stallbaumer for a 9-yard touchdown. It was Stallbaumer’s first career touchdown and Siglar’s first career touchdown pass.

HCC led 17-0 at halftime.

The Blue Dragons struck quickly to open the second half as Binn connected with Anthony Autry for a 55-yard touchdown catch-and-run to make it 24-0 with 13:32 remaining in the third quarter.

Indy broke a 16-quarter scoreless drought against Hutchinson in the fourth quarter when Wesley Collins ran in from 2 yards out to make it 24-6 after the extra point was blocked by Tyler Williams. HCC led 24-6 with 9:42 remaining in the game.

GAME NOTES – Hutchinson has now won Jayhawk Conference championships in 1932, 1947, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1995 and 2014. … The Blue Dragons won their ninth game in a row against Independence and have won 26 of the last 27. … HCC has a series advantage of 52-21-5 against Indy, the most wins against any opponent. … The 2014 Blue Dragons moved up to No. 3 on the all-time HCC scoring list with 460 points. … The 24 points scored on Saturday were a season low. … Tyler Williams’ extra point block was the seventh blocked kick this season for HCC. … DeQuan Bowman had his second 100-yard receiving game of the season on Saturday.

 

Labette upsets Blue Dragons in Quarterback Classic finale

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HUTCHINSON, Ks – The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team saw a 16-game Quarterback Classic winning streak come to an end as Labette upset the No. 22-ranked Blue Dragons 87-77 on Saturday night at the Sports Arena.

Playing without leading scorer DeShawn Freeman, who was injured late in Friday’s season-opening victory against Trinidad State, the Blue Dragons battled from behind all night and couldn’t overcome the 35-point effort by the Cardinals’ Tevin Foster.

Foster was 8 of 14 shooting, but knocked down 5 of 8 from 3-point range to continually frustrate the Blue Dragons. Labette (2-0) also forced 19 Hutchinson turnovers and converted those into 29 points.

Labette snapped a 13-game losing streak to Hutchinson by also hitting 10 of 21 3-point field-goal attempts. The Blue Dragons once again struggled from long range, hitting only 2 of 16.

Sophomore Austin Budke led the Blue Dragons with a career-high 23 points, hitting 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. He tied a career high with eight rebounds in 35 minutes.

Freshman Bashier Ahmed posted his second-straight double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He also had three steals and two blocked shots.

Che Bob was the third Blue Dragon in double figures with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Zach Winter and Akbar Hoffman had six points each.

The Blue Dragons (1-1) shot 44.3 percent overall (27 of 61). HCC hit 21 of 32 from the foul line. The Blue Dragons had a huge rebounding advantage on the Cardinals, including 19 offensive rebounds.

Labette shot 46.2 percent overall (24 of 52) and 29 of 38 from the free-throw line. The Cardinals were 14 of 18 from the foul line in the second half.

Also scoring in double figures for Labette was Jariun Nelson with 15 and Walter Sorrels with 14.

Foster had 13 points in the game’s first 9-plus minutes as Labette built a 27-22 lead with 10:54 to play in the opening half.

HCC fought back to tie the game on a Bob 3-pointer and Ahmed transition hoop to knot the game at 27-all with 8:36 to play. That was in the midst of Hutchinson’s defense holding Labette to just one field goal over a stretch of 7 minutes, 5 seconds. A Budke layup gave HCC a 35-31 lead with 6:13 to play. Labette stayed in the game at the foul line, hitting 10 of 15 from the line in the half and 10 of 11 during the Cardinals field-goal drought.

An 8-1 Hutchinson run helped build a 43-37 lead with 1:31 to play after a Bob layup, but Foster made a huge 3-poiter with 1:07 to go to cut the Hutch lead in half. Winter made 1 of 2 free throws for a four-point HCC lead, but Xavier Smith hit Labette’s sixth first-half 3-pointer with 27 seconds left. HCC led 44-43 at halftime.

The lead changed hands five times in the first six minutes of the half. A Budke layup with 15:44 to play in the 2nd half gave HCC a 54-53 lead. Labette then took the lead for good 90 seconds later on a Sorrels field goal with 14:16 to play. That was the first of three unanswered buckets as Labette built a 59-54 lead with 12:26 to play.

Labette built a 68-60 lead with 8:33 to play. The Blue Dragons got it down to four at 71-67 after a Budke three-point play with 5:17 to play. HCC had just three field goals in the remainder of the game. Labette finished off the upset by hitting 8 of 12 free throws in the final 5 minutes of the game.

The Blue Dragons will play host to Hesston College and NEO next Friday and Saturday in the First National Bank of Hutchinson Classic at the Sports Arena.

GAME NOTES – The last Labette victory over Hutchinson was in 1990. … The last Labette victory over Hutchinson at the Sports Arena came in 1963. … HCC is now 28-12 all-time against Labette. … HCC had 19 turnovers for the second-straight game.

(HCC Sports Information)

BOXSCORE

Ground game rolls for Blue Dragons in rout of Ellsworth

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fb110114IOWA FALLS, Iowa – The No. 7-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team racked up a season-high 351 rushing yards and not one came from Alvin Kamara, the nation’s No. 6 rusher.

Travis Custis ran for more than 200 yards and Tory Smith ran for better than 100 as the Blue Dragons rattled off 38 unanswered points en route to a 38-7 victory over Ellsworth at a frigid Cadet Field.

The 9-1 Blue Dragons reach the nine-win mark in a season for the ninth time in program history. The Blue Dragons will close out the regular season, going after its first Jayhawk Conference championship since 1995 and first outright league crown since 1969 next Saturday against Independence at 1 p.m. at Gowans Stadium.

Kamara did not suit up for Saturday’s game after being injured one week before at Iowa Western.

That allowed the other running backs in a deep Blue Dragon stable to contribute. And contribute they did.

Custis ran for 201 yards on 27 carries to lead the Blue Dragon offense, scoring one touchdown. He averaged 7.4 yards per carry. Custis’ previous career high was 146 yards against Fort Scott in September.

Tory Smith broke the 100-yard plateau for the first time, running for 103 yards on just nine carries and one touchdown. Smith also made a big impact on special teams by recovering a loose football on a kickoff that led to a Kassidy Lemons field goal late in the second quarter.

Saturday was the third time this season that Hutchinson has had two running backs rush for more than 100 yards in a game. Custis is the second Blue Dragon to reach 200 yards this season.

Quarterback Dalton Demos played the entire game on Saturday, the first time this season that a Blue Dragon signal-caller has done that. Demos accounted for three touchdowns, completing 18 of 29 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Demos rushed for 34 yards on eight carries and had his first rushing touchdown of the season.

Anthony Autry caught six passes for 42 yards and one touchdown to lead the HCC receivers. DeQuan Bowman had three catches for 39 yards.

Hutchinson had 351 rushing yards on 50 carries and tied a season high with five rushing touchdowns. The Blue Dragons had 492 total yards on 79 plays.

Ellsworth (3-6) was held to 260 total yards and only 31 rushing yards on 37 carries. Ellsworth came into the game averaging 143.9 yards on the ground this season.

The Blue Dragons forced four takeaways which led to 24 Hutchinson points. HCC committed two turnovers.

Linebacker Claude George had a team-high 10 tackles, including a sack/fumble. Jeremiah Ledbetter had a career-high three quarterback sacks.

Ellsworth entered the Red Zone six times on Saturday and came away with points only once.

Jarrod Sanders had an interception, while Smith, Kyle Wilson and Lakel Bass all recovered fumbles.

Hutchinson took a 7-0 lead with 6:31 to go in the first quarter when Custis broke up the middle for a 58-yard touchdown run.

The Blue Dragons seized complete control of the game in the second with a 24-point period.

After Bass recovered an Ellsworth fumble, the Blue Dragons navigated 73 yards in seven plays to score for the second time. Bryce Harvey reeled in a 9-yard touchdown pass from Demos for a 14-0 lead with 9:49 to play in the period.

Ellsworth turned it over again on its next possession after driving to the HCC 38. Sanders picked off Mitch Weiland and returned it 47 yards to Panther 20. Two plays later, Demos found Autry for a 19-yard touchdown strike and a 21-0 lead with 7:28 remaining in the half.

The Blue Dragons then forced a short Ellsworth punt and methodically navigated 40 yards on 10 plays as Demos capped off the drive with a scrambling 3-yard touchdown run for a 28-0 lead with 1:15 to play. HCC converted a fourth-down and third-down play on the drive.

Trying to avoid Ellsworth’s dangerous kick returner Tyrian Taylor, Kassidy Lemons pooched the ensuing kickoff away from Taylor and HCC’s Smith wound up recovering the loose football at the Panther 20. The Dragons weren’t able to punch it into the end zone, but settled for a 32-yard Lemons field goal for a 31-0 lead with 50 seconds remaining in the half.

Hutchinson out-rushed Ellsworth in the second half 110-10 and out-gained Ellsworth 154-57.

The Blue Dragons made it 38 unanswered points on their second possession of the second half when Smith gashed the Panther defense and sprinted 76 yards for a touchdown. The play was the longest play from scrimmage this season for HCC and it was the fourth play of 70 or more yards by the Dragons in 2014.

The Panthers ended Hutch’s shutout bid in the third quarter with a 10-play, 70 yard march that was capped off by Weiland’s 1-yard TD run with 5:51 remaining in the third quarter.

GAME NOTES – Of Hutchinson’s nine nine-win seasons, four have come in the Rion Rhoades era. … The Blue Dragons are 41-7 under Rhoades when they have a running back rush for at least 100 yards. … This was Hutchinson’s first meeting with Ellsworth since 1972. HCC is 2-0 vs. Ellsworth. … The 2014 Blue Dragons moved up three spots on the all-time team scoring chart to fourth with 426 points this season. … Travis Custis now has 722 yards rushing this season. … This was the third time in 2014 HCC has held an opponent to less than 50 rushing yards in a game. … HCC had 13 tackles for loss totaling 50 yards, including four quarterback sacks.

Royals come up short in Game 7 as Giants win World Series

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WorldSeries-200x77KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants succeeded where no team had in 3½ decades, winning Game 7 on the road for their third World Series title in five years.

Punctuating one of the finest October performances in baseball history, Bumgarner came out of the bullpen to pitch five scoreless innings on two days’ rest, and the Giants held off the Kansas City Royals 3-2 Wednesday night in a championship pushed to the limit.

A two-out misplay in the ninth almost wrecked it for Bumgarner and the Giants. He had retired 14 in a row when Alex Gordon’s single fell in front of center fielder Gregor Blanco, who let the ball get past him for an error that allowed Gordon to reach third.

Bumgarner, however, retired Salvador Perez on a foulout to third baseman Pedro Sandoval. The big left-hander was immediately embraced by catcher Buster Posey, and the rest of the Giants rushed to the mound to join the victory party. Most of the San Francisco players tossed their gloves high in the air as they ran to the center of the diamond.

Three days after throwing 117 pitches in a four-hit shutout to win Game 5, Bumgarner threw 68 more and dropped his record-low career Series ERA to a barely visible 0.25.

Michael Morse hit a go-ahead single in the fourth that stood up, and the Giants eked out a battle of the bullpens on a night when both starting pitchers made unusually quick exits.

The Giants were dubbed a “Band of Misfits” in 2010 when they beat Texas to win the franchise’s first title since 1954 in New York. Two years later, they swept Detroit for another championship.

And this time, they became the second NL team with three titles in a five-year span, matching Stan Musial’s St. Louis Cardinals of 1942-46.

Every other year. It’s the closest thing to a dynasty baseball has seen in the 21st century.

Home teams had won nine straight Game 7s in the Series since Pittsburgh’s victory at Baltimore in 1979, including the Royals’ 11-0 rout of St. Louis in 1985. Teams hosting the first two games had won 23 of the last 28 titles, including five in a row. And the Giants had lost all four of their previous World Series pushed to the limit.

But before a pumped-up, blue-and-white-clad crowd of 40,535 that hoped noise and passion could lift the small-market Royals to a title that seemed improbable when Kansas City was languishing two games under .500 in mid-July, the Giants won the second all-wild card World Series, 12 years after losing Game 7 to the Angels in the first.

Both managers promised quick hooks if their starters showed the slightest signs of faltering, and both managers delivered as Tim Hudson and Jeremy Guthrie combined for 15 outs — matching the fewest by Game 7 starters. Hudson, at 39 the oldest Game 7 starter, allowed two runs in 1 2-3 innings. The 35-year-old Guthrie took the loss, giving up three runs in 3 1-3 innings

Jeremy Affeldt followed Hudson with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in his longest outing since July 2012, getting help from the first successful replay challenge in World Series history.

With his shaggy hair making him look every bit a gunslinger, Bumgarner entered to boos in the bottom of the fifth, coated his long arms with rosin and groomed the pocked-up mound with his spikes.

He gave up an opposite-field single to his first batter, Omar Infante, who advanced on a sacrifice. Bumgarner retired Nori Aoki on a liner near the left-field line that was grabbed by Juan Perez, starting over Travis Ishikawa because of his defense. Bumgarner then struck out Lorenzo Cain.

He retired the side in order in the sixth, seven and eighth, increasing his pitch count to 52. With loud chants of “Let’s Go Royals!” echoing through Kauffman Stadium, he struck out Eric Hosmer to open the ninth, then retired Billy Butler on a foulout to bring up Gordon.

The 25-year-old Bumgarner allowed two hits, struck out four and walked none. He pitched 52 2/3 postseason innings, 4 1/3 more than the previous mark set by Arizona’s Curt Schilling in 2001, and finished with 270 innings combined, including the regular season.

Voted the Series MVP, MadBum became king of SoMa, and from Nob Hill to North Beach, from The Marina to The Mission, San Francisco celebrated another title won by Kung Fu Panda and Hunter Pence.

Pence batted .444 in the Series and Sandoval, a free-agent-to-be playing perhaps his last game for the Giants, finished at .429 following a three-hit night. In an era when pitching and computer-aided defense has supplanted steroids-saturated sluggers, baseball’s dominant team established itself in the tech-fueled, boomtown by the Bay.

The Giants, a 20-1 longshot when 2014 odds were first posted a year ago, won their eighth title and third since moving from New York to San Francisco after the 1957 season. They also have won 10 straight postseason rounds, one shy of the record set by the New York Yankees from 1998-01.

After finishing tied with Pittsburgh in the wild-card race at 88-74, the Giants advanced when Bumgarner pitched a four-hit shutout and then beat Washington and St. Louis in the NL playoffs.

Bruce Bochy became the 10th manager to win three World Series titles — the other nine are all in the Hall of Fame.

Sandoval was hit just above the right elbow leading off the second, Pence reached out and pulled an 0-2 changeup into left for a single and Brandon Belt poked a single into right, loading the bases.

Consecutive sacrifice flies by Morse and Brandon Crawford put the Giants ahead 2-0.

But Hudson gave the lead right back and was chased after 28 pitches, walking off the mound with a stunned look when Bochy removed him after just four outs — the shortest Game 7 start since the Yankees’ Bob Turley was pulled after a leadoff single in the second in 1960.

Kansas City pressured Hudson in a three-pitch span when Billy Butler singled leading off, Gordon lined the next pitch to right-center for an RBI double and Perez was hit by a pitch.

Gordon scored on Infante’s sacrifice fly for a 2-all tie.

THE CORE

Eight players have been on all three Series rosters for the Giants in the past five years: Affeldt, Bumgarner, Santiago Casilla, Tim Lincecum, Javier Lopez, Posey, Sergio Romo and Sandoval. Matt Cain, a member of the first two title teams, was hurt this October. Before this run, manager John McGraw (1905, `21-22) was the only Giant with three titles.

— Associated Press —

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