(BY STEVE CARPENTER)
(HUTCHINSON CC SPORTS INFORMATION)

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team needed to do something it hadn’t accomplished since 1995 to retain the nation’s top ranking.

Mission accomplished.

Hutchinson defeated Butler at Gowans Stadium for the first time in 24 years as the top-ranked Blue Dragons downed the No. 2 Grizzlies 35-27 in front of 3,671 rain-soaked fans at Gowans Stadium.

The Blue Dragons improve to 5-0 for the first time since 2014 and takes over sole possession of first place in the Jayhawk Conference at 3-0. Butler falls to 5-1 and 3-1 in the KJCCC.

Hutchinson defeats Butler in back-to-back games for the first time since 1995. The Dragons won 27-13 in El Dorado last season.

Blue Dragon quarterback Mark Wright led the Blue Dragons to touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game to build a 21-0 lead. Then leading 28-7 midway through the third quarter, the game was delayed for 38 minutes because of lightning in the area, which seemed to stymie Hutchinson’s momentum.

Backup quarterback Jack Samsel ignited the Grizzlies after taking over for injured starter Steven Frank. He threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns while running for another as Butler pulled within 35-27 with 4:01 to play in the second half.

Butler had the final possession of the game takin the ball over at its own 33 with 2:07 to play. Despite two Latrell Bankston quarterback sacks on the drive. The Grizzlies converted two third downs – one by penalty and then a 13-yard pass – and drive to the Dragon 25. Facing 2nd and 10, defensive end Dionte Gipson sacked Samsel for an 8-yard loss. Out of timeouts and with the clock running, the Grizzlies were called for a false start. Out of timeouts, a 10-second run-off was administered which ran out the clock.

Wright combined for 316 total yards of offense to lead Hutchinson, which had 403 total yards. Wright completed 10 of 17 passes for 195 yards with three touchdowns. He also had his second 100-yard rushing game of the season, going for 131 yards on 1 carries with a touchdown.

The Blue Dragons out-rushed Butler 208-67, but the Grizzlies threw for 339 passing yards and out-gained the Dragons 406-403.

Hutchinson drove the opening possession of the game 79-yards in eight plays. The drive was set up with a Wright 66-yard run to the Butler 5. Wright powered in from a yard out for a 7-0 Hutch lead with 11:34 to go.

After holding the Grizzlies on downs on their first possession, Wright showed his elusiveness. He got away from a near sack and flipped a pass to Kendall Cross, who made it a 69-yard touchdown catch and run for a 14-0 lead with 7:37 to play in the opening quarter.

Hutch’s third possession, which was 67 yards on seven plays, was capped by an athletic catch by Craig Burt 29-yard touchdown reception with 4:03 to go. The Dragons lead 21-0.

The Grizzlies cashed in on a break when Blue Dragon punter Nolan Arrington couldn’t handle an errant long snap. George Qualls caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Frank to cut the Dragon lead to 21-7 with 9:27 to play in the second quarter.

Butler had the opening possession of the second half. The Blue Dragons got their opening takeaway of the game on the third play of the possession as Kirmari Gainous got a sack fumble and Bankston recovered the loose ball at the Butler 22. Four plays later, Cross had his second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run to give the Dragons a 28-7 lead with 12:39 remaining in the third quarter.

After the 38-minute rain delay, Butler got going. Qualls make his second touchdown reception of the game late in the third quarter when he caught a 17-yard pass from Samsel to cut the Dragon lead to 28-14 with 1:54 to go in the third.

Samsel’s 4-yard scramble with 11:20 to go in the final quarter cut the Dragon lead further, but the point-after try was wide left and Hutchinson led 28-20 with 11:20 to go in the final quarter.

Hutchinson immediately answered that Butler charge when Tinsley caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Wright with 9:01 to go in the game. Five minutes later, The Grizzlies cut the Hutch lead to 35-27 on a JaQuay Lane 15-yard touchdown catch.

The Blue Dragons went three-and-out and punted to set up the final drive of the game.

Hutchinson travels to Highland next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Highland.

By DICK KAEGEL
Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Minnesota Twins lost third baseman Luis Arraez to an apparent right leg injury in the seventh inning of their 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

Arraez collided with first baseman Willians Astudillo while he was chasing Hunter Dozier’s pop fly at the mound. Astudillo caught the ball and Arraez grabbed the back of his right leg as he tumbled to the ground.

Arraez, a rookie who is batting .334 in 92 games for the AL Central champions, had to be carted off the field.

Nelson Cruz hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth for Minnesota, which has won six in a row and eight of nine overall. Mitch Garver had two doubles and scored twice, and Astudillo had two hits and two RBIs.

Kansas City slugger Jorge Soler went deep twice to move into the AL lead with 47 homers. Soler snapped a tie with the Angels’ Mike Trout, who is out with an injury.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Number 1 Blue Dragons vs. No. 2 Grizzlies will do.

For just the second time in this classic KJCCC rivalry’s 99-game history, the Blue Dragons and Grizzlies meet as the NJCAA’s Top 2 teams in the national rankings.

Kickoff is at Noon Saturday at Hutchinson’s Gowans Stadium. The game will be broadcast live by Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5). Glen Grunwald (play-by-play), and Rob Dreher (Color) will call the action at 11:30 a.m. the game will be streamed by the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 11 :30 a.m.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Andrew Miller and Ryan Helsley were hit hard as St. Louis’ bullpen stumbled during an 8-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs, but the Cardinals’ magic number for clinching the NL Central dropped to two. Miller, Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos allowed each of Chicago’s runs after Dakota Hudson struck out 10 in five scoreless innings.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Minnesota Twins became the record fourth team in the major leagues to win 100 games this season, beating the Kansas City Royals 6-2 behind two-run homers from Miguel Sanó and Ryan LaMarre in a game shortened to 6½ innings because of rain. Minnesota reached the century mark in wins for just the second time in franchise history. The 1965 Twins went 102-60, then lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. The Royals are among a record-tying four teams with 100 losses.

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — No. 24 Kansas State goes on the road Saturday for its Big 12 opener. It’s also the first conference game for first-year head coach Chris Klieman, whose Wildcats are 3-0. They expect a big test from Oklahoma State, which is 3-1 and coming off a six-point loss at Texas. Oklahoma State has the nation’s top rusher in Chuba Hubbard.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Kansas is still looking for its first Big 12 under Les Miles that long road losing streak no longer hangs over the Jayhawks. Kansas is playing Saturday at TCU. When they Jayhawks last played on the road two weeks ago, they won at Boston College, ending a streak of 48 consecutive road losses against power conference teams. They then lost at home to West Virginia in their Big 12 opener under Miles. Kansas’ only Big 12 win the past two seasons was at home against TCU last year.

WACO, Texas (AP) — Iowa State coach Matt Campbell is measuring the progress of the Cyclones in terms of three weeks. Baylor’s Matt Rhule can’t help but think of where his Bears have come over three seasons going into the Big 12 opener for both teams Saturday. Baylor is unbeaten through three games for the first time under Rhule. Iowa State has steadily improved since a shaky opening win over Northern Iowa. That progress includes a one-point loss to Iowa.

National Headlines

UNDATED (AP) _ The Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays wrapped up the two AL wild-card berths with help from the Cleveland Indians’ 8-2 loss at Washington. The A’s lead the Rays by one game after J.P. Crawford delivered a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth to give Seattle a 4-3 win against Oakland. Tommy Pham hit a two-run blast and Austin Meadows added his 33nd home run of the season to power the Rays past Toronto, 6-2.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) _ No. 12 Penn State is 40-2-1 all-time against Maryland after Sean Clifford threw for 398 yards and three touchdowns in the Nittany Lions’ 59-0 laugher at College Park. Clifford also had a TD run for the Nittany Lions, who led 38-0 at halftime and finished with 619 yards in their Big Ten opener. Penn State improved to 4-0 this season and has outscored the Terrapins 201-20 over their last four meetings.

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) _ Eno Benjamin scored his third touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run with 4:41 remaining to lead Arizona State to a 24-17 victory over No. 15 California. Jayden Daniels added 174 yards passing and 84 more on the ground as the Sun Devils earned their second road win this season against a ranked team. The Golden Bears lost quarterback Chase Garbers to a right shoulder injury, spoiling their highest ranking in a decade.

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) _ William Byron and Alex Bowman led Hendrick Motorsports to a sweep of the front row in qualifying for the first elimination race in NASCAR’s playoffs. Byron went 103.198 mph around the hybrid road course/oval track at Charlotte Motor Speedway that was reconfigured last season to spice up the playoff stop. The bottom four in the playoff standings are Bowman, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones, who dropped to last in the 16-driver field when his car failed post-race inspection last weekend at Richmond.

Friday Scores

INTERLEAGUE
Final Washington 8 Cleveland 2

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit 0 Chi White Sox 0 (canceled)
Final Minnesota 6 Kansas City 2 (7 Innings)
Final Tampa Bay 6 Toronto 2
Final Baltimore 4 Boston 1
Final N-Y Yankees 14 Texas 7
Final Houston 4 L-A Angels 0
Final Seattle 4 Oakland 3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 6 Cincinnati 5
Final N-Y Mets 4 Atlanta 2
Final Colorado 11 Milwaukee 7
Final Philadelphia 5 Miami 4 (15 Innings)
Final Chi Cubs 8 St. Louis 2
Final Arizona 6 San Diego 3
Final L-A Dodgers 9 San Francisco 2

TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Final (12)Penn St. 59 Maryland 0
Final Arizona St. 24 (15)California 17

(BY STEVE CARPENTER)
(HUTCHINSON CC SPORTS INFORMATION)

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Saturday’s Jayhawk Conference showdown between the Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons and Butler Grizzlies really doesn’t need any superfluous adjectives to hype the game.

Number 1 Blue Dragons vs. No. 2 Grizzlies will do.

For just the second time in this classic KJCCC rivalry’s 99-game history, the Blue Dragons and Grizzlies meet as the NJCAA’s Top 2 teams in the national rankings.

Kickoff is at Noon Saturday at Hutchinson’s Gowans Stadium. The game will be broadcast live by Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5). Glen Grunwald (play-by-play), and Rob Dreher (Color) will call the action at 11:30 a.m. the game will be streamed by the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 11 :30 a.m.

Saturday’s matchup will be the sixth time since 2008 that the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the NJCAA rankings meet in the regular season. Back in 2010, then-No. 2 Hutchinson meet then No. 1 Butler at Gowans Stadium. The Grizzlies prevailed on that night with a 28-0 victory.

The Blue Dragons are 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Dragons have had two weeks to prepare for the Grizzlies.

Butler will be the third-straight nationally ranked opponent for the Blue Dragons. Two weeks ago Hutchinson won a 27-7 decision at No. 17 Fort Scott. The Dragons have also knocked off then-No. 2 Iowa Western.

That victory over Fort Scott was the 100th in Hutchinson head coach Rion Rhoades’ coaching career. He is only the fourth Jayhawk Conference coach to reach 100 all-time wins.

Hutchinson will be playing its first home game since August 31 when the Blue Dragons played and defeated Independence 30-20.

Butler is 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the KJCCC coming off a 31-7 home victory over Dodge City last Saturday night. The Grizzlies have one Top 10 victory this season, a 36-17 win at BG Products Stadium over then-No. 6 Snow College.

According to the numbers, points double be at a premium on Saturday. The top two defenses in the Jayhawk Conference will be on display.

Butler is No. 1 in the KJCCC in scoring defense (11.8 ppg) and the Blue Dragons are No. 2 (17.8 ppg). Hutchinson is No. 1 in total defense (222.2 ypg) and Butler is No. 2 (265.0 ypg). The Blue Dragons are No. 1 with 24 quarterback sacks. Butler is second with 11 sacks.

While the overall series between the Blue Dragons and Grizzlies is nearly dead-even – Hutch trails 46-48-1 – recent history has been decisively gone Butler’s way. Since 1997, Butler owns a 27-2 record over the Blue Dragons. Hutchinson won the last meeting with Butler, 27-13 last season in El Dorado.

The Blue Dragons are due to break through at Gowans Stadium against Butler. Hutchinson hasn’t defeated Butler at Gowans since a 36-18 Jayhawk Conference playoff victory in 1995 (seven games).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Minnesota Twins became the record fourth team in the major leagues to win 100 games this season, beating the Kansas City Royals 6-2 Friday night behind two-run homers from Miguel Sanó and Ryan LaMarre in a game shortened to 6½ innings because of rain.

Minnesota reached the century mark in wins for just the second time in franchise history. The 1965 Twins went 102-60, then lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.

“It’s a really nice, kind of cool round number to look at and talk about after the fact,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said before the game.

Houston, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees also have 100 wins. Before this year, the only seasons with as many as three 100-game winners were 1942, 1977, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2016 and 2017.

At 58-102, the Royals are among a record-tying four teams with 100 losses, joining Detroit, Baltimore and Miami. Kansas City has reached triple figures in losses for the third time. The only previous season with four 100-loss clubs was 2002.

Nelson Cruz and Eddie Rosario hit RBI singles in the first off Eric Skoglund (0-3), and Sanó booted the lead to 4-0 in the second with his 34th homer. LaMarre’s second home run of the season made it 6-1 in the third.

Minnesota’s 303 home runs are second in the major leagues behind the New York Yankees’ 305.

José Berríos (14-8) struck out nine, allowing two runs and six hits in his first complete game this season, the third of his big league career.

Whit Merrifield singled in the first for his 202nd hit, advanced to third on Hunter Dozier’s double and scored on Alex Gordon’s groundout. Merrifield tripled in the fifth and scored on Jorge Soler’s sacrifice fly, his 113th RBI.

TOAST TO YOST

Ned Yost’s No. 3 was chalked behind home plate. The retiring manager was honored before the game, leading wife Deborah and family members through two lines of Royals players and staff. He received framed mementoes, a 4-wheeler to ride on his Georgia farm and a standing ovation from the fans.

“It’s emotional a little bit,” Yost said before the ceremony “I’ve spent 10 great years here, but I’m anxious to get, on too. So there’s a lot of good and a little bit of sad. But more good than sad.”

Yost plans to spend more time with his family and he was asked if he planned to take his grandchildren to a theme park.

“I went to Disney World with my grandkids last year,” he said, “and my feet haven’t been the same since.”

UP NEXT

Saturday’s game was moved up five hours to 1:15 p.m. CDT because heavy rains are forecast. The Twins have not announced a starter; the Royals will use RHP Glenn Sparkman (4-11, 6.11 ERA).

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchisnon Salthawks were getting set to recieve the opening kickoff from Salina Central Friday night when mother nature decided to strike lightning within 10 miles and delay the start of the football game between the Salthawks and the Mustangs for 51 minutes. When play began, Hutchinson drove 65 yards to score. The Salthawks led 6-0 early in the first quarter. After that, the Mustangs put on a lightning show of their own including an 82-yard punt return by Gage Prester that was part of 24 unanswered points.

Hutchinson looked like it was going to regain the lead late in the second quarter when Jalen Barlow fumbled the football out of the end zone just before scoring a touchdown.

Hutchinson’s head coach Mike Vernon was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on the call. When he questioned that call, he was given another penatly and ejected.

Hutchinson dominated the third quarter, but two miscues and turnovers twice inside the Salina Central 20 yard line denied Hutchinson from scoring.

Salina Central senior quarterback Jackson Kavanagh scored from 4 yards out to seal the deal at 31-12.

Hutchinson hosts Newton next Friday night for Homecoming at Gowans Stadium. Salina Central travels to Haysville-Campus to take on the Colts.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The creative Tampa Bay Rays and the tenacious Oakland Athletics earned playoff spots Friday night, filling out the 10-team field for the Major League Baseball postseason.

Most of the pairings and sites are still to be determined before the playoffs begin Tuesday night with the NL wild-card game. Any tiebreakers that need to be decided on the field would be played Monday.

The Rays, back in the playoffs for the first time since 2013, and the A’s will meet Wednesday night in the AL wild-card game, with the host to be settled. Injury-plagued Cleveland was eliminated with an 8-2 loss at Washington.

Washington ace Max Scherzer is set to start the NL wild-card game against St. Louis or Milwaukee. The winner of that game will begin the Division Series on Thursday at Dodger Stadium against NL West champion Los Angeles.

The same day, Freddie Freeman and the NL East champion Atlanta Braves take on the Central winner, either the Cardinals or Brewers.

The AL division champs — Houston in the West, the Yankees in the East and the Minnesota Twins in the Central — will start the best-of-five Division Series on Friday.

Tampa Bay has the lowest payroll in the majors at $66 million. The Rays pioneered the use of a reliever to start a game for an inning or two, an opener concept that has spread throughout baseball.

“We do some crazy stuff and people scratch their heads a lot,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after a clinching 6-2 win at Toronto. “These guys don’t care. They want to win.”

Cash indicated Charlie Morton will start against the Athletics.

Oakland’s spot was sealed with the Indians’ loss. Several A’s hugged in the dugout before starting their game at Seattle.

The Athletics overcame several injuries to their pitching staff to return to the postseason for the second straight year.

Boston, which won the World Series last year and had the majors’ top payroll this year at $228 million, never recovered from a slow start and missed out.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Due to heavy rains expected in the Kansas City area Saturday evening, the Kansas City Royals-Minnesota Twins game scheduled for Saturday night has been moved to a 1:15 p.m. first pitch.  Gates to Kauffman Stadium will open at 11:30 a.m.

Fans who had tickets for the game originally scheduled for 6:15 p.m. may use their tickets for the 1:15 p.m. game.  Qualifying ticket purchasers for the 6:15 p.m. game who are unable to attend due to the time change will be emailed a ticket voucher for a 2020 regular season game, excluding Opening Day.