Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The No. 12-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team remained in a pool of teams without a Jayhawk Conference loss after the Blue Dragons turned in their most complete performance of 2018 on Saturday at Gowans Stadium.
The Blue Dragons rushed for better than 300 yards and amassed 573 total yards as six different Hutchinson players scored touchdowns in a 61-21 league victory over Fort Scott.
The Dragons improve to 3-1 overall and start a Jayhawk Conference season 2-0 for the eighth time in the Rion Rhoades' era. Fort Scott, which lost its previous two games by a combined total of four points, falls to 0-3 (0-3).
With Saturday's victory, Rhoades won his 90th game as a head coach, with 83 of those wins coming on the Blue Dragon sideline.
Freshman quarterback Mason Schucker threw for a season-high four touchdown passes as Hutchinson scored the third-most points in the 75-game series with Fort Scott.
Schucker completed 11 of 22 passes for 245 yards. He threw touchdown passes of 4 yards to Jaylen Erwin, 48 yards to Cephus Smith, 73 yards to Khalil McClain and 11 yards to Erwin.
All four touchdown passes came in a first half were Hutchinson racked up 377 total yards and led 38-7 at halftime.
Sophomore running back Dezmon Jackson led Hutchinson's 309-yard rushing attack with a career-high 133 yards on just seven carries. Jackson broke loose for touchdown runs of 53 and 57 yards. Jonathan White rushed for 78 yards on a game-high 18 carries. Drake Bolus ran for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Erwin had a team-high three catches for 23 yards and two scores. Smith had two catches for 61 yards.
The Blue Dragons produced 20 first downs with 309 rushing yards and 264 more yards through the air.
Freshman kicker Sebastian Garcia set a new Blue Dragon record with a 48-yard field goal in the third quarter that made it 48-7. Garcia's kick surpassed the old record of 47 set by Kevin Coleman (2004), Michael Mesh (2012) and Ryan Weese (2013). Garcia was good on field goals of 48 and 33 yards and was perfect on six extra-point tries.
Defensively, the Blue Dragons made life tough on Fort Scott quarterback Gunner Sea, who entered the game ranked third in the NJCAA at 303.5 passing yards per game. Sea was held to 14 of 28 passing for 160 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and two of the Blue Dragons' four quarterback sacks.
Overall, the Greyhounds had 234 total yards, but were held to a season-low eight rushing yards by the Blue Dragon defense, which had four takeaways (three interceptions, one fumble recovery).
Freshman defensive back Art Green became the second Blue Dragon this season with two interceptions on one game. His second interception was a spectacular one-handed grab that saved a touchdown on the Hutchinson 4-yard line. Letayveon Beaton had his third interception of the season on Saturday.
The Blue Dragons led 14-0 after one quarter on touchdown receptions by Erwin and Smith. Hutch outgained Fort Scott 146-35 in the first quarter.
The Blue Dragons answered Fort Scott's only touchdown of the first half – a Jesse Thomas 18-yard TD reception - with 34 unanswered points. The Dragons tallied 231 yards on 20 plays in the second half to lead 38-7 at halftime. McClain caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Schucker and Erwin added an 11-yard scoring strike. Garcia kicked a 33-yard field goal and Jackson gashed the Hounds for a 53-yard TD run to build that halftime margin.
Jackson's 57-yard touchdown run and Garcia's school-record 48-yard field goal capped the 34-points Dragon run to lead 48-14 after three quarters.
Fort Scott scored a pair of touchdowns in a span of 1 minute, 43 seconds to pull within 48-21 with 13:17 to play in the fourth quarter.
Nolan Arrington and Drake Bolus capped off the Dragon scoring with their first career touchdowns. Arrington ran the ball in from 2-yards out with 7:54 to go and Bolus capped the scoring with a 2-yard run with 2:37 remaining in the game.
The Blue Dragons will play their second Thursday Night game of the season this coming Thursday, September 20 as RPA comes to Gowans Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 41-33-1 in 75 meetings with the Greyhounds. .. This was Hutchinson's first 300-yard rushing game since Ellsworth last year. … The Blue Dragons had a season-low three penalties for just 35 yards on Saturday. .. The Dragons were a season-best 7 of 16 on third-down conversions. Hutch had a team of possession of 33 minutes, 48 seconds. … L.T. Ikner had two quarterback sacks.