(HCC Sports Information)

The two remaining undefeated teams in the Jayhawk Conference will meet on Saturday when the No. 8 Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons play host to No. 4 Butler at Gowans Stadium.

Butler is 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. Hutchinson is 6-1 overall and 4-0 in league play with two games remaining.

Both teams won decisively last week. The Blue Dragons went on the road and dismantled Garden City 54-12. Butler knocked off No. 11 Coffeyville 41-3 in El Dorado.

A Blue Dragon streak will be snapped this week. HCC is on a 13-game homefield winning streak, but has lost 17 in a row to Butler.

The matchup will feature the nation’s top scoring offense and the nation’s top scoring defense.

The Blue Dragons come into the game averaging 59.0 points and 506.7 yards per game. Butler is allowing only 6.9 points and 202 yards per game and hasn’t allowed an offensive touchdown in 24 straight quarters.

The Coaches
Hutchinson: Rion Rhoades is in his fifth season with the Blue Dragons. He is 32-18 at HCC and 39-23 overall in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach.

Butler: Troy Morrell is in his 12th season with the Grizzlies. He is 122-16 at Butler with three national championships.

BLUE DRAGON FOOTBALL GAME DAY
Game 8: No. 8 Hutchinson vs. No. 4 Butler
When: Saturday, October 22, 2011
Where: Gowans Stadium, Hutchinson, Kan.
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9), KWBW-AM (1450), 6:50 p.m.
Live Video/Audio: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 6:50 p.m.
Live Stats: Available at kickoff (link)
Television: None
Tickets: Reserved – $7; General Admission – $5

Dragon Fans Asked To Fill Gowans With Blue-Out
Saturday’s game with Butler will be a “Blue-Out.”

HCC fans are asked to wear Blue gear to the game to support the Blue Dragons.

Gates open at 6 p.m. and the HCC Store will be open on the main level of the West Stadium to get your Blue Dragon Gear.

About the 2011 Blue Dragons
With 54 or more points scored in 6 of 7 games in 2011, the Blue Dragons’ potent offense will face by far its toughest test of the season on Saturday against Butler.

Hutchinson continues to be the NJCAA scoring leader at 59.0 points per game and is sixth in the nation in total offense at 506.7 yards per game. The Blue Dragons are sixth in the nation in rushing at 259.7 yards per game. HCC ranks 12th in the nation in passing offense at 247 yards per game.

Coming off his fourth Jayhawk Conference Player of the Week award, HCC quarterback Elliott Alford continues to set a scintillating pace for the Blue Dragons. For the second time this season, Alford threw for a school-record six touchdown passes and became the program’s career leader in TD passes last week against Garden City. Alford is third in the nation in passing accuracy at 67.7 percent (105 of 155) for 1,643 yards with 25 touchdown passes and only one interception. Last week against Garden City, Alford completed 20 of 30 passes for 296 yards.

All-American Cordarrelle Patterson has a team-high 38 receptions for 578 yards and 12 touchdowns. Patterson has accounted for 1,180 all-purpose yards (177 rushing, 678 receiving, 325 on kickoff returns) and 16 touchdowns.

Redshirt freshman Deveon Dinwiddie is HCC’s leading rusher. Dinwiddie is second in the league and 12th in the NJCAA in rushing, averaging 6.4 yards per carry and 94.0 yards per game (658 yards on 103 carries) with 11 touchdowns. Terrell Lane has 234 yards on 50 carries and five scores. HCC has 28 rushing touchdowns in six games.

Defensively, the overall numbers for the Blue Dragons aren’t stellar, but the defensive unit continues to make with big plays and except for a shaky first quarter against Garden City last week, the Dragons have been much better the last two games.

Over the last two games, HCC is allowing 9.0 points, 64 rushing yards and 167 passing yards per game.

Sophomore safety Duane Sims leads the Blue Dragons with 61 tackles. Linebacker Tim Edmond is second with 49 tackles.

HCC is allowing 18.6 points, 167.0 rushing yards, 142.1 passing yards and 309.1 total yards per game. The Blue Dragons have forced 16 turnovers. Khambrel Garland and Sims are tied for fourth in the Jayhawk Conference with two interceptions each.

On special teams, punter Kody Cook leads the Jayhawk Conference and is 11th in the nation at 41.3 yards per punt. Kicker Michael Mesh is 52 of 57 on extra points and 1 of 2 on field goals. Patterson continues to lead the Jayhawk in kickoff returns at 46.4 yards per return. Jatavious Stewart is first in punt returns at 16.0 yards per return.

Scouting Butler
The defending Region VI champions are up to their old tricks again as Butler has rolled to seven-straight wins after a season-opening loss to Navarro. The Grizzlies are doing it with a high-scoring offense and a defense that is one of the more stingy ones of the Troy Morrell era.

Butler’s defense is leading the nation in scoring defense at 6.9 points per game. In conference play, the Grizzlies are even better at 4.2 points per game. Butler hasn’t allowed an offensive touchdown in 24 straight quarters.

The Grizzlies are allowing 65.8 rushing yards (No. 3 in the NJCAA), 136.4 passing yards (22nd in the NJCAA) and 202.1 total yards (13th in NJCAA). The Grizzlies have 58 tackles for loss, 36 quarterback sacks and 21 takeaways.

Jeff Page is Butler’s leading tackler with 65 tackles. Demarcus Lawrence has 50 tackles and leads the Jayhawk with 9.5 quarterback sacks.

Butler’s offense is also having a stellar season, averaging 51 points per game. The Grizzlies are averaging 237.4 yards rushing per game (7th in NJCAA) and 252.5 passing yards (10th in NJCAA).

Quarterback Chandler Whitmer is 11th in the NJCAA in passing at 246.6 yards per game. He is completing 61 percent of his passes (131 of 214) with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Butler has offensive weapons galore. Jasper Sanders has 652 rushing yards with nine touchdowns. Dreamius Smith has 498 yards and eight TDs. Derrick Thomas has 485 yards. Five different receivers have at least 11 receptions, led by Kendall Wrenn with 44 catches, 759 yards and seven touchdowns. Chris Fields has 24 receptions.

Series History vs.  Butler
This will be the 85th meeting between Hutchinson and Butler in a series that dates back to 1929.

The Blue Dragons lead the all-time series 43-40-1, but have dropped 17 consecutive games to the Grizzlies. HCC’s last win came in 1997, a 17-7 victory at El Dorado. The last HCC win over Butler at Gowans Stadium came in 1995, a Jayhawk Conference playoff victory.

The Dragons are 22-15-1 in games played in Hutchinson and are 21-24 in games played at El Dorado. The Grizzlies have a 4-1 postseason edge on Hutchinson. The HCC victory was that 1995 opening round playoff game, a 36-18 Blue Dragon victory at Gowans Stadium.