BLUE DRAGON FOOTBALL |
No. 3 Hutchinson (1-0) at Ellsworth (0-1) |
| When: Saturday, September 3, 2022 Where: Cadet Field, Iowa Falls, IA Kickoff: 1 p.m. Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9), 12:30 p.m. (Glen Grunwald, PBP; Daren Dunn, Color) Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 12:30 p.m. Twitter: @bluedragonsport CLICK FOR GAME NOTES |
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The home opener for the Hutchinson Community College football team was a tremendous success. Now the No. 3 Blue Dragons take their show on the road for the first time this season on Saturday to take on the Ellsworth Panthers.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Cadet Stadium in Iowa Falls, Iowa. This will be the first time Hutchinson and Ellsworth have met since 2019.
Opening week for the Blue Dragons saw sophomore quarterback Dylan Laible throw for 278 yards and five touchdowns and the Blue Dragon defense shut out Navarro for the first time since Game 5 of 1997, a streak of 257 games.
The third-ranked Blue Dragons scored 35 first-half points en route to a 42-0 victory over No. 13 Navarro at Gowans Stadium.
Laible, who was named both Jayhawk Conference and NJCAA Player of the Week, moved within two touchdowns of Luke Barnes' career record of 50. Laible moved up to third in career passing yards with 3,921 yards. He is 79 yards shy of becoming just the second Blue Dragon quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a career.
As well as the offense clicked against Navarro, the Blue Dragon defense was stellar. Hutchinson forced five takeaways against the Bulldogs and held Navarro to 80 yards rushing and 136 yards passing last week.
Ja'Maric Morris, Monterio Smith and Jaden Mosley all had interceptions, while Terry Kirksey recovered a fumble and Dylan Kedzior recovered a special teams' fumble.
Ellsworth continues a daunting opening portion of its schedule with the No. 3-ranked Blue Dragons.
Last week the Panthers opened the season at NJCAA Division III top-ranked and defending D-III national champion College of DuPage and dropped a 48-25 decision. After the Blue Dragons and a bye week next week, the Panthers travel to No. 9 Iowa Central and No. 2 Iowa Western in succession.
Against DuPage, Ellsworth announced 178 rushing yards and 414 yards through the air with four touchdown passes going against them.
The Blue Dragons are riding a seven-game winning streak overall and a three-game win streak over Ellsworth. The last meeting in 2019 was at Iowa Falls, a 41-6 Blue Dragon win.