Hutchinson CC Sports Information
After a 9-3 season and Top 10 finish in the national rankings, a pair of Hutchinson Community College football players earned All-America honors on Tuesday.
Linebacker Monty Montgomery became the first Blue Dragon player in three years to earn NJCAA first-team All-America honors. Running Back Dezmon Jackson was named to the NJCAA All-America honorable mention list.
Montgomery and Jackson become the 23rd and 24th Blue Dragon All-Americans in the Rion Rhoades era. Of those 24 honorees, nine Blue Dragons have been named to the first team.
Hutchinson football has now produced 28 first-team and 65 total All-Americans in program history. Those records date back to 1963.
Montgomery and Jackson helped the 2018 Blue Dragons post a 9-3 overall record and a No. 8 finish in the final NJCAA Football Rankings.
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MONTY MONTGOMERY – 1st Team Linebacker
Montgomery, a 5-foot-11, 218-pound linebacker from Grayson, Georgia, is the first Blue Dragon defensive player to earn first-team All-America status since Marquavius Lewis in 2014.
Montgomery had a tremendous freshman season for a Blue Dragon defense that ranked in the Top 2 of 3 of the 4 major defensive categories in the Jayhawk Conference and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation in rush defense.
For the season, Montgomery led the Blue Dragons with 82 total tackles, including 45 unassisted tackles. He had 18 tackles for loss, six quarterback sacks, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles and five quarterback hurries.
Montgomery tied a Blue Dragon single-game record with 24 tackles in a 24-21 loss to Garden City on November 3. He also had three defensive touchdowns, including two in one game against Dodge City on October 20. Montgomery was part of a fourth defensive touchdown when he had an interception and lateraled to Kelvin Clemmons in a win at then No. 5 Independence on September 1.
Montgomery was named the 2018 Jayhawk Conference Defensive Player of the Year in November. He was named the KJCCC Defensive Player of the Week three different times and was the NJCAA National Defensive Player of the Week twice.
DEZMON JACKSON – Honorable Mention Running Back
Jackson is a 6-foot, 219-pound sophomore running back from El Dorado, Arkansas.
He became the first Blue Dragon 1,000-yard rusher since 2012, rushing for 1,192 yards on 161 carries with a team-high 13 touchdowns.
His 1,192 rushing yards are the 11th most in single-season Blue Dragon history. His 7.4 yard-per-carry average ranks second in Blue Dragon single-season history.
Jackson had seven runs of 50-plus yards, four runs of 80-plus yards and two runs of 90-plus yards, including a school-record 97-yard touchdown run against Garden City on November 3 at Gowans Stadium.
Jackson finished the season with seven 100-yard games – a single-game high of 169 against Garden City – including the final six games he played in this season.
Jackson was a three-time Offensive Player of the Week and was the league special teams' player of the week once.