Hutchinson CC Sports Information

One week ago, the Hutchinson Community College football team earned its first victory over a Top 5 nationally ranked team since 1995.

The Blue Dragons get a chance at No. 2 Saturday in Gowans Stadium as No. 11 Hutchinson (2-0) plays host to the second-ranked Iowa Western Reivers at Noon for Merchants' Day with the Blue Dragons.

The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and sister station KWBW-AM (1450) beginning at 11:30 a.m. with Countdown to Kickoff. Rusty Hilst (play-by-play), Rob Dreher (analysis) and Glen Grunwald (sidelines) will call the action. The game will also be videostreamed on the Blue Dragon Sports Network with the link available at 11:50 a.m.

Saturday's meeting will be the third time in five overall meetings that Hutchinson and Iowa Western meet as teams ranked in the NJCAA.

The Blue Dragons have started the season with a pair of victories - Ellsworth (30-12) and No. 5 Independence (37-27). That victory marked the highest-ranked team the Blue Dragons have defeated in the Rion Rhoades' era.

Those wins have pushed Hutch into the NJCAA Rankings at No. 11 after starting the season just receiving votes.

No. 2 in the preseason rankings, Iowa Western has defeated Coffeyville (19-6) and a much-improved Iowa Central team (26-20).

While the Reivers dominated the 2014 and 2015 meetings, with Hutchinson, the last two showdowns between the Dragons and Reivers have been memorable.

In 2016, Hutch led 15-12 late with the Reivers driving toward a potential winning score. On the final play of the game, Hutch's Ronheen Bingham returned a fumble 74 yards to clinch a 21-12 victory.

Last year in Council Bluffs, with 9 seconds to go trailing IWCC by six points, B.J. Emmons dove over the pile into the end zone. But the Blue Dragons were whistled for a false start. With a 10-second runoff tacked on, time ran out and the Blue Dragons dropped a tough 27-21 decision to the Reivers.

The Blue Dragons are 8-5 vs. Iowa teams in the fifth year of the Kansas-Iowa scheduling alliance. Iowa Western is 25-7 vs. Jayhawk Conference teams.

Saturday's game will be the first of three-straight home games for Hutchinson.