BLUE DRAGONS FACE PIVOTAL ROAD TEST SATURDAY AT DODGE CITY

Receiver Malik Benson and the Blue Dragon Football team travels to Dodge City for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Dodge City. (Andrew Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)
Receiver Malik Benson and the Blue Dragon Football team travels to Dodge City for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Dodge City. (Andrew Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

BLUE DRAGON FOOTBALL

Hutchinson (3-3, 3-3) at Dodge City (1-5, 1-4)

When: Saturday, October 23, 2021
Site: Memorial Stadium, Dodge City, KS
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9); KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5), 12:30 p.m. with Countdown to Kickoff – Glen Grunwald (PBP); Daren Dunn (Color)
Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 12:30 p.m.
Twitter: @bluedragonsport
CLICK FOR BLUE DRAGON GAME NOTES (PDF Format)

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

While the entirety of the 2021 season to this point haven't gone according to plan for the Hutchinson Community College football team, the Blue Dragons still have several attainable goals ahead of them.

One goal is to get a Region VI Playoff opening-round home game in November. For that to happen, the Blue Dragons' final game of the 2021 regular season is a must-win game.

The Blue Dragons (3-3, 3-3 KJCCC) travel to Dodge City to take on a much-improved Conquistador team at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Dodge City.

Hutchinson is currently in fifth place in the KJCCC standings, one-half game behind both Butler and Garden City for third place. The Blue Dragons have the direct tie-breaker with Garden City, but Butler owns the head-to-head matchup with the Blue Dragons. There is a distinct possibility that Hutchinson, Garden City and Butler could finish in a three-way tie, which brings a different set of tiebreakers. Garden City has Coffeyville and Butler remaining. The Grizzlies have Fort Scott and Garden City left to play. The Dragons are off next week.

Hutchinson comes off a workmanlike 20-7 victory over the Highland Scotties last week in Highland.

Sophomore running back Anwar Lewis ran for his fourth-straight 100-yard game, going for 172 yards on 26 carries. He also had a 38-yard touchdown run, scoring a touchdown for the fifth-consecutive game.

Defensively, safety Deshon Singleton had two huge interceptions - one in the end zone right before halftime - and the Dragons racked up a season-high 11 quarterback sacks in a victory that snapped a three-game losing streak to the Scotties at Highland.

Dodge City has suffered back-to-back tough losses to a pair of KJCCC teams currently residing in the upper division of the league. Garden City downed the Conquistadors 49-0 two weeks ago and last week, Dodge City lost 47-17 at No. 3 Independence.

Still, this is a much-improved Conquistador team in head coach Ricky Coon's third season. Dodge City claimed its lone victory of 2021 on October 2, 61-34 at Fort Scott. Quarterback Rashad McKee had a record-setting day with 404 passing yards and five touchdown passes.

Last season at Gowans Stadium, the Blue Dragons clinched the 2020-21 Jayhawk Conference title with a 70-14 victory over Dodge City. The Blue Dragons have won four in a row in the series and leads Dodge City 50-36-4 all-time in a series that dates back to 1936.