By Steve Carpenter – HCC Sports Information Director.
Hutchinson Community College special teams accounted for three touchdowns on Thursday night as the No. 6 Blue Dragons exploded in the second quarter to roll past Kilgore College 60-29 in the 2011 season opener for both teams at Gowans Stadium.
Hutchinson won its fourth game in a row in the season-opening Jayhawk Conference-Southwest Junior College Football Conference Challenge. The Blue Dragons (1-0) won decisively for the second time in two seasons against Kilgore, defeating the Rangers by the largest margin in their three-game all-time series. This was Kilgore’s first-ever trip to Hutchinson.
Beginning their 80th season of football on Thursday, the Blue Dragons scored the most points ever in a season opener in winning their 10th-straight game at Gowans Stadium.
Sophomore All-American Cordarrelle Patterson had his fourth and fifth career return touchdowns and scored three touchdowns overall. Blue Dragon special teams also accounted for a third touchdown when on the final play of the first half, freshman Timmy Chad blocked a punt and freshman Alex Gentges returned it 19 yards to the end zone.
That play capped off a 40-point second quarter. The Dragons outscored Kilgore 40-3 in the second stanza after the game was tied at 6-all after the first period. The second quarter was HCC’s largest single quarter since a 35-point fourth quarter against Air Force Prep in 2005.
“We needed (the special teams) to get some momentum going,” HCC head coach Rion Rhoades said. “We were struggling a little defensively. We needed it tonight. The guys made plays.”
With Hutchinson leading 12-9 with 11:59 to play in the second quarter, Patterson wowed the large Gowans Stadium crown with an electrifying 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to give the Dragons a 10-point lead. After Kilgore scored on its first possession of the second half, the Rangers again paid for kicking to Patterson, who gashed the Kilgore coverage team for an 86-yard return which gave the Dragons a 53-16 lead with 11:49 to play in the third quarter.
Patterson touched the ball eight times in the game. He scored three touchdowns and amassed 254 all-purpose yards, the second-best single-game total of his career. Patterson had five receptions for 55 yards and one touchdown, one rush for 16 yards and two kickoff returns for 183 yards.
“We had to take the momentum. We needed a big play,” Patterson said. “We made some big plays and turned things around.”
“Any time (Cordarrelle) touches the ball, he has a chance to do big things with it,” Rhoades said. “I think he will open doors for a lot of other guys. They are going to have opportunities because of what Cordarrelle did tonight.”
Sophomore quarterback Elliott Alford inched closer to the career Top 10 in passing yardage, completing 15 of 17 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Alford also rushed for a pair of scored, going for 15 yards on seven attempts.
“Coach told us that we were going to have to pass because they had a run-stop defense,” Alford said. “We have some playmakers on offense. Everybody did well and I was on point with my passes. I expected more out of the running back, but we will work on it.”
Freshman Deveon Dinwiddie scored a pair of touchdowns in his long-awaited Blue Dragon debut after missing last season because of injury. Dinwiddie rushed for a team-high 54 yards on 19 carries.
Freshman Jatavius Stewart also had a big night on special teams with four punt returns for 105 yards, including a long of 59 yards.
Kilgore actually out-gained the Blue Dragons 371-321. HCC had 112 yards rushing and 209 yards passing. The Rangers had 239 yards in the air and 135 rushing yards. The Dragons had a decisive time-of-possession advantage, 34:44-25:16. HCC tallied 393 return yards on 11 kickoff or punt returns.
Quarterback Andrew Jackson led the Rangers completing 12 of 16 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns. Ricky Collins had 11 receptions for 150 yards and two TDs. Vincent Moore had a game-high 64 yards rushing on 11 carries.
Kilgore took an early lead when Darren Brown caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Jackson, but the extra-point was missed for a 6-0 Ranger lead. Two possessions later the Dragons tied the game when Patterson caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Alford, but the extra point was blocked and the game was tied 6-6 with 3:45 to play in the opening quarter.
Alford’s 1-yard touchdown run capped a five-play, 50 yard drive to up the HCC lead to 12-6. Kilgore responded with a Dylan Nowak 40-yard field goal to cut the HCC lead to 12-9 with 11:59 to play.
Patterson took the ensuing kickoff back 97 yards, the second longest of his HCC career, for a touchdown and started a run of 33 unanswered points. The Dragons scored five touchdowns in the second quarter, the final came when Chadd blocked a Kilgore punt and Gentges picked up the loose ball and rumbled 19 yards on the final play of the half to give Hutchinson a 46-9 lead at halftime.
Kilgore again scored on its opening possession of a half, scoring on a 19-yard strike from Jackson to Collins. But the Patterson once again dazzled the crown, this time on an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 53-16 lead with 11:49 to play in the third quarter.
HCC reached the 60-point mark with 6:12 to go in the third quarter when Dinwiddie scored his second touchdown of the game from 2-yards out.
The Blue Dragons return home on Saturday, Sept. 3 when the Blue Dragons play host to Independence at Gowans Stadium.