- Largest margin of victory – 83.
- Most points scored in a half – 49.
- Most touchdown passes – 6 (Elliott Alford).
- Most extra-point kicks – 12 (Michael Mesh).
- Biggest turnaround from a loss to a win – 116 points.
- Most regular-season points scored at Gowans Stadium – 220 points in three games.
The Blue Dragons (3-1, 2-0 Jayhawk Conference) rolled up a season-high 628 total yards, getting a season-high 327 rushing yards. The Dragons had 17 plays of 10 or more yards. HCC converted 7 of 11 third-down conversions and 2 of 2 fourth-down conversions. It’s the second time this season that Hutchinson has averaged at least 10 yards per play for an entire game. HCC averaged 10.1 yards per play.
Alford became the first Hutchinson 300-yard passer since Greg Meinzer in 2005, completing 12 of 18 passes for 301 yards and the record six touchdowns. Alford also rushed for one touchdown. He did suffer his first interception of the season which turned into Highland’s only points of the game when Colby Brown returned the interception 51 yards to the end zone.
“That’s a good accomplishment,” Alford said. “It’s something that will follow us the rest of our lives. It’s something I hope we can hold on to.”
Freshman running back Terrell Lane had a season-high three touchdowns and was HCC’s leading rusher with 99 yards on 18 carries. He had touchdown runs of 2. 9 and 3 yards. Freshman Deveon Dinwiddie had 10 carries for 76 yards and a 1-yard touchdown. Freshman LaQua Mays ran for 70 yards on two carries, which included a 70-yard touchdown run.
Five different receivers caught passes, three were for touchdowns.
Sophomore Cordarrelle Patterson caught three passes, all for touchdowns, for 97 yards. His TD catches were from 60, 6 and 31 yards. Patterson touched the ball only four times all night. His only non-scoring play was a 29-yard reverse. Kody Cook caught season highs of three passes for 72 yards and a dazzling 48-yard touchdown catch. Miguel Johns and three receptions for 63 yards, Jatavious Stewart had two catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns (35 and 23 yards). Alex Gentges had one catch for 11 yards.
Defensively, the Blue Dragons were dominant, producing 21 negative-yardage plays, including a season-high six quarterback sacks. HCC forced a season’s-best five turnovers. Three takeaways were by interception, the first interceptions of the year for the Blue Dragons. Highland (0-4, 0-3) had just two first downs through three quarters and had seven for the game. The Scotties had 142 total yards, only 69 through three quarters. Highland rushed for 23 yards and passes for 119.
Linebacker Darrious Stroud had 10 tackles, including four tackles for loss. Tim Edmond finished with seven tackles and a fumble recovery. Freshman Beau Bell had six tackles, including three quarterback sacks. Quashawn Simpson had the other fumble recovery, while Garland, Sims and sophomore Spencer Vanderbogart had the interceptions.
“It was awesome,” Bell said. “All the guys were tired from going hard, and then when one guy takes it to the house, it’s one of the best feelings out there.”
The Blue Dragons led 21-0 after one quarter, rolling up 238 yards on just 18 plays. The halftime lead was 49-7. HCC had 381 total yards at halftime. Hutch led 63-7 after three quarters with a 526-69 disparity to total yardage after three quarters.
Hutchinson will enjoy its bye week this week and will travel to Fort Scott for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Oct. 1.
GAME NOTES – Elliott Alford passes Greg Meinzer and Robert Coates for the single-game TD pass record. … HCC is now 28-2 all-time vs. Highland, including 17-0 at Gowans Stadium. … HCC’s Gowans Stadium winning streak is 12 games. … Cordarrelle Patterson jumped three spots to No. 7 on the career scoring list with 118 points. … Alford is now ninth in career passing with 2,373 yards and is now sixth in total offense at 2,775 yards. … The all-time Gowans Stadium scoring record is 232 points, set in 1995 over seven games.