Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College football team aims to turn around a late-season swoon with a victory Saturday in the 10th annual Salt City Bowl.

The No. 13-ranked Blue Dragons (8-3) will play host to the Navarro Bulldogs (6-4) in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Gowans Stadium.

Saturday's game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) beginning at 12:30 p.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 12:50 p.m.

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The Blue Dragons will make their 21st overall bowl appearance, making their last eight in the Salt City Bowl. The Blue Dragons are 11-7-2 all-time in bowl games and 6-1 in the Salt City Bowl.

Navarro makes its 20th all-time bowl appearance, the first since 2013. The Bulldogs are 13-5-1 in previous bowl games.

Hutchinson and Navarro have met only twice before. The Bulldogs won both meetings as part of the Jayhawk/Southwest Junior College Football Conference Challenge. Navarro won 54-34 in 2012 at Corsicana, Texas and 41-16 in Gowans Stadium in 2013.

Hutchinson finished the 2018 regular season 8-3 and finished second in the ultra-tough Jayhawk Conference. The Dragons were ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation this season – holding that spot for four weeks.

The Blue Dragons, offensively, averaged 34.8 points and 371.9 total yards per game. The Dragons, led by 1,000-yard rusher Dezmon Jackson, were second in the Jayhawk Conference in rushing at 202.9 yards per game.

Defensively, the Blue Dragons were stellar allowing 19.8 points and 244 yards per game. The Dragons forced 27 takeaways and are third in the NJCAA with 44 quarterback sacks.

Navarro finished the season 6-4, tying for third in the Southwest Junior College Football League this season. The Bulldogs were ousted from the playoffs by Kilgore in November 3. Currently receiving votes, the Bulldogs were ranked as high as No. 10 in the NJCAA rankings this season.

Navarro had another potent offense scoring 36.4 points and racking up 490.9 total offensive yards. The Bulldogs threw for 321.5 yards and rushed for 169.4 yards per game.

Defensively, Navarro allowed 33.2 points and 346.6 yards per game.