Blue Dragons move to No. 5 – Hutch Post Archive

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A three-game winning streak and a second victory over a nationally-ranked opponent have vaulted the Hutchinson Community College football team into the national Top 5.

Photo courtesy of HutchCC Sports Information.

The Blue Dragons are now No. 5 in the latest NJCAA Football rankings, which were released on Tuesday. The Dragons moved up two spots in this week’s rankings after a 27-13 victory at No. 12 Butler on Saturday.

This is the first week that the NJCAA Football Computer Rankings are represented in the poll. The computer rankings comprise 25 percent of the points amassed for each team. The other 75 percent comes from the 17-member voting committee.

Hutchinson enters the NJCAA Top 5 for the first time since the final poll of the 2014 season when the Blue Dragons finished No. 4 in the nation. The Blue Dragons started the 2018 season as a team receiving votes, but have steadily worked their way up the rankings while building a 5-1 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the Jayhawk Conference.

Hutchinson is 2-1 against nationally-ranked teams this season with victories over No. 5 Independence and No. 12 Butler — both games on the road. The only loss was a nine-point setback to the team just ahead of the Blue Dragons in this week’s rankings, Iowa Western, which defeated the Blue Dragons 33-24 on Sept. 8 at Gowans Stadium.

Now the Blue Dragons will face their fourth ranked opponent of the season on Saturday at Gowans as the No. 13 Highland Scotties come to Hutch for a noon kickoff. Highland is 4-1, winning 21-18 at Iowa Central on Saturday.

For the third-straight week, East Mississippi captured all 17 first-place votes. Northwest Mississippi moves up to No. 2. Those two teams play each other Thursday night at Northwest Mississippi.

Garden City is now No. 3, then Iowa Western and Hutchinson.

Butler fell seven spots after its lost to Hutchinson to No. 19.

NJCAA FOOTBALL RANKINGS

1. East Mississippi (17) 5-0 355.52 1

2. Northwest Mississippi 5-0 340.00 3

3. Garden City 5-0 336.61 2

4. Iowa Western 4-1 284.80 5

5. Hutchinson 5-1 254.73 7

6. Lackawanna 5-0 247.19 5

7. Jones 4-1 217.14 9

8. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 4-1 210.39 10

9. Snow 4-1 209.00 8

10. Scottsdale 4-1 167.19 4

11. Blinn 4-1 163.65 11

12. Eastern Arizona 4-1 155.65 13

13. Highland 4-1 114.77 RV

14. Monroe College 3-0 111.20 16

15. Arizona Western 3-2 65.00 19

16. North Dakota SCS 5-0 56.92 RV

17. Kilgore 4-2 55.00 RV

18. Holmes 3-2 53.69 14

19. Butler 3-2 46.92 12

20. Pima 3-1 44.25 NR

Others Receiving Votes: East Central (3-2, 24.5); Tyler (4-2, 21.0); Copiah-Lincoln (3-2, 9.8); Mississippi Gulf Coast (3-2, 7.0); Mesabi Range (4-1, 6.0); Hinds (3-2, 3.6); Erie (3-1, 2.0); Itasca (4-1, 1.0).