(HCC Sports Information)
The ninth-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team goes after the 250th victory all-time in the city of Hutchinson on Saturday when the Blue Dragons take on up-and-coming Dodge City at 7 p.m. Saturday at Gowans Stadium.
HCC Football is 249-116-14 in 379 home games. The Dragons have a 214-105-8 record at Gowans Stadium. HCC has won 12 straight on its home field.
HCC looks to remain atop the Jayhawk Conference standings against a Dodge City team that has climbed to fourth in the league standings after a come-from-behind 40-22 victory last week over Highland. The Conqs scored 21 fourth-quarter points for the win.
The Dragons come into the game leading the NJCAA in scoring offense coming off their fourth 60-point game of the season in a 69-36 victory last Saturday at Fort Scott.
HCC and No. 5 Butler have 3-0 league records, while 14th-ranked Coffeyville has a 2-0 league mark.
The Coaches
Hutchinson: Rion Rhoades is in his fifth season with the Blue Dragons. He is 30-18 at HCC and 37-23 overall in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach.
Dodge City: Bob Majeski is in his fourth season at Dodge City. He is 5-27 with the Conquistadors.
Game Coverage
Internet Video/Audio: The game will be streamed live on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at www.bluedragonsports.com. Airtime is 6:50 p.m. There will also be an audio-only stream.
Radio: Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and KWBW-AM (1450) will have the game live with Rusty Hilst (play-by-play), Rob Dreher (analysis) and Glen Grunwald (sidelines) calling the action at 6:50 p.m.
Live Stats: Real-time game statistics will be available at kickoff on www.bluedragonsports.com.
BLUE DRAGON FOOTBALL GAME DAY
Game 6: No. 9 Hutchinson vs. Dodge City
When: Saturday, October 8, 2011
Where: Gowans Stadium, Hutchinson, Kan.
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9), KWBW-AM (1450), 6:50 p.m.
Live Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 6:50 p.m.
Live Audio: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 6:50 p.m.
Live Stats: www.bluedragonsports.com (link)
Television: None
About the 2011 Blue Dragons
The nation’s junior college leader in scoring offense, the Blue Dragons have been an offensive machine in four of their first first games of 2011.
Hutchinson has topped the 60-point mark four times in five games and last week’s 69-point output was only the third-best scoring total of the season.
The Blue Dragons are averaging 59.2 points per game in 2011. HCC continues to improve on the ground, now up to sixth in the NJCAA rushing stats at 271.6 points per game. HCC quarterbacks are completing passes at a 67-percent clip and are averaging 224.2 yards per game, which is 14th in the nation. The Dragons’ 495.8 yard-per-game average is sixth in the NJCAA.
What’s scary is that HCC has a seven-point game against Air Force Prep mixed in those numbers.
Quarterback Elliott Alford is fourth in the nation in passing accuracy at 68 percent (66 of 97) for 1,069 yards with 15 touchdown passes and only one interception.
All-American Cordarrelle Patterson has a team-high 25 receptions for 432 yards and eight touchdowns. All totaled, Patterson has accounted for 894 all-purpose yards (170 rushing, 432 receiving, 292 on kickoff returns) and 12 touchdowns.
HCC’s rush game comes off its best game against Fort Scott last week with 430 yards and seven rushing touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Deveon Dinwiddie is averaging 6.5 yards per carry and 83.2 yards per game (428 yards on 64 carries) with seven touchdowns. Terrell Lane has 234 yards on 50 carries and five scores. HCC has 23 rushing touchdowns in five games.
Defensively, the overall numbers for the Blue Dragons aren’t stellar, but the HCC defensive unit continues to come up with big plays.
Sophomore safety Duane Sims comes off a Jayhawk Conference Defensive Player of the Week performance after a career-high 17 tackles and two quarterback sacks. Sims leads the Blue Dragons with 46 tackles. Linebacker Tim Edmond is second with 41 tackles.
HCC is allowing 22.4 points, 208.2 rushing yards, 132.2 passing yards and 340.4 total yards per game. The Blue Dragons have forced 12 turnovers. Khambrel Garland is tied for fourth in the Jayhawk Conference with two interceptions.
On special teams, punter Kody Cook leads the Jayhawk conference and is 10th in the nation at 41.2 yards per punt. Kicker Michael Mesh is 29 of 32 on extra points and 0-1 on field goals. Patterson continues to lead the Jayhawk in kickoff returns at 48.7 yards per return. Jatavious Stewart is second in punt returns at 20.2 yards per return.
Scouting Dodge City
Bob Majeski’s first three seasons at Dodge City weren’t pretty … just three wins over that span. But Majeski’s hard work is starting to pay off as Dodge City comes into Saturday’s game 2-3 and 2-2 in the Jayhawk Conference, which is fourth place.
The Conquistadors needed a fourth-quarter rally on the road to defeat Highland 40-22. Quarterback Bryan Parnes ran for two TDs and threw for another in the fourth quarter against the Scotties.
Parnes is the key to the Dodge City offense. He has accounted for 81 percent of the Conq offense (1,233 passing, 82 rushing). Parnes is 115 of 223 passing and is averaging 256.6 yards per game through the air, which leads the Jayhawk Conference and is 11th in the nation. Parnes has seven TD passes and has thrown five interceptions.
Six different Dodge City receivers have at least 13 receptions. Logan Stephens has a team-high 29 for 325 yards and a touchdown. Evan Loomis has 17 catches for 225 yards. Cameron Hall has 15 catches for 188 yards and a team-high four TD receptions.
Dodge City is averaging 20.2 points per game, 248.2 through the air and 74.8 yards rushing. Robert McWright II is the Conquistadors’ leading rusher with 298 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Dodge City has been up and down. For the season, the Conquistadors are allowing 32.2 points per game, 216.8 yards rushing, 165 yards passing and 381.1 total yards.
Defensive back Chris Lipscomb has had a stellar year for Dodge City with a team-high 76 tackles, which is tied for second in the nation.
Dodge City has a league-high six blocked kicks. Marcus Hardison has three blocked kicks so far in 2011.
Series History vs. Dodge City
This will be the 80th meeting between Hutchinson and Dodge City in a series that dates back to 1936.
The Blue Dragons lead the all-time series 42-33-4. After Dodge City reeled off five-straight wins between 2004 and 2007, the Blue Dragons have won the last three games by a combined score of 164-9, including a 63-0 win at Dodge City last season.
The Blue Dragons are 23-13-2 in games played in Hutchinson and are 19-20-2 in games played in Dodge City. The Conquistadors have a 3-2 postseason edge on Hutchinson.
Last season’s 63-0 win was the largest margin of victory in the series with Dodge City.
Blue Dragons In The National Poll
The Blue Dragons returned to the NJCAA Top 10 this week, moving up two spots to No. 8 in the latest poll.
HCC started the season ranked No. 6, but losses by No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast and No. 3 Butler aided a climb to No. 3. A loss to Air Force Prep in Week 3 saw an 11-spot drop in the polls.
With the ranking, the Blue Dragons have now been ranked in 22 consecutive and 31 of the last 33 NJCAA football polls, the longest run as a ranked team since the mid-1990s, when it spent time in 29 consecutive polls. The Blue Dragons had also been ranked in the Top 10 for 13 consecutive NJCAA polls.
Last season, the Blue Dragons started No. 11, climbed to as high as No. 2 – their highest ranking ever in the NJCAA poll – before finishing at No. 5 after a 10-2 season in which HCC finished second in the Jayhawk Conference, was Region VI runner-up and won its second-straight Salt City Bowl.
This is the third-straight year under head coach Rion Rhoades that the Blue Dragons have started a season ranked in the NJCAA preseason poll. Two seasons ago, HCC started the season ranked 13th.
The highest ranking for HCC in any poll came in 1996 when JC Gridwire ranked the Blue Dragons No. 1 for one week.
Gowans Stadium Win Streak Up To 12 Games
The Blue Dragons won their 12th consecutive game at Gowans Stadium after a 90-7 victory over Highland on Sept. 17. The streak dates back to 2009. The current streak is the third-longest winning streak and fourth-longest unbeaten streak in program history.
HCC won 18-straight at Gowans Stadium from 1967-71 and a 13-game win streak from 1946-48. The Dragons had a 16-game unbeaten home streak from 1930-39 in which HCC went 12-0-4 over that span.
Over the years, Gowans Stadium has been a pretty good home for Blue Dragon Football.
Built in 1940, HCC surpassed 200 wins at Gowans with a 45-13 win over Coffeyville in 2008. HCC is 214-105-8 at Gowans and 249-116-14 at home all-time.
The Blue Dragons under Rion Rhoades are 18-6 at Gowans Stadium.
This season marks the sixth year of the renovated Gowans Stadium. At an overall cost of $5.5 million, Gowans Stadium received a major face lift that included a new FieldTurf playing surface, new drainage system, track, press box and many other features, now including the DragonVision video board and completed East Stadium seating. Gowans now has a capacity of 5,500.