Dragons rally in 2nd half
to defeat N.M. Military
in first Salt City Bowl
No. 20 Hutchinson 22, No. 16 N.M. Military 14
December 5, 2009
Gowans Stadium - Hutchinson, KS
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The No. 20 Blue Dragons earned their first bowl victory in five seasons and closed another late-season run in style with a 22-14 victory over No. 16 New Mexico Military Institute in the inaugural Central Bank/Salt City Bowl at Gowans Stadium.
Chris Anderson rushed for a game-high 138 yards, 127 in the second half to earn offensive Most Valuable Players honors. Sophomore defensive backs Thad Williams and Kendall Davis had two second-half interceptions each. Williams, who also had a career-high nine tackles, was named the game’s defensive MVP.
Hutchinson (7-4) rallied from a 14-13 halftime deficit to win for the first time in the Rhoades era when trailing at halftime. It’s the first time in 15 games that the Blue Dragons won after trailing at the half.
New Mexico Military (7-4) outgained the Blue Dragons 376-341, but four second-half interceptions by quarterback Watson Togiailua – all in HCC territory – were the big plays in the game.
Anderson helped make a little Blue Dragon history.
His 51-yard run early in the fourth quarter sent him over the 1,000-yard for the season. Anderson (1,040 yards) joins sophomore Chris Clay (1,106) yards to become the most prolific rushing tandem in Blue Dragon history and become the first set of backs to both rush for more than 1,000 yards in the same season in the program’s 78-year history.
Anderson carried the ball 15 times for 138 yards. He also had a 30-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass in the second quarter and had 198 all-purpose yards in the game.
Freshman quarterback Angelo Pease was 9 of 15 passing for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Pease also ran for 55 yards on eight carries and a touchdown. Freshman John Miller had three receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown. Ethan Ungles had three receptions for 40 yards.
The Dragons rushed for 221 yards and passed for 120 yards, committing only one turnover.
The Blue Dragons set a new season scoring average team record with 35.5 points per game. The 390 total points scored in 2009 were the fourth most in team history.
New Mexico Military running back Anthony Williams had a big day with a team-high 129 yards on 39 carries and one touchdown. Togiailua completed 13 of 24 passes for 120 yards and one touchdown. Tyrone Hendrix had a game-high six receptions for 65 yards.
The Broncos took advantage of the first mistake of the game when a bad snap on a Blue Dragon 37-yard field goal attempt ended HCC’s scoring threat. New Mexico Military marched 72 yards in eight plays and scored the game’s first points on a Gregory Taylor 7-yard touchdown reception with 4:27 to play in the first quarter.
A short kickoff into a stiff south breeze gave HCC good field position to start its second drive. Clay, who ran for 53 yards in the game on 12 attempts, ran for 24 yards and the Blue Dragons overcame a holding penalty to tie the game. Pease hooked up with Miller in the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown strike with 2:13 to play in the quarter.
The Dragons took a 13-7 lead when Anderson caught a short pass in the flat, broke a couple of tackles, avoided two more and sprinted down the sideline for a 30-yard touchdown. The extra-point try was missed and HCC led by six with 9:27 to play in the second quarter.
HCC drove to the NMMI 20 on its next possession, but the Broncos held on downs to take over at the 21. Togiailua completed 5 of 7 passes in the 10-play, 79-yard drive that was capped off by Williams’ 7-yard touchdown run with 23 seconds left in the half to take a 14-13 lead at halftime.
Hutchinson’s defense shut out the Broncos in the second half despite rolling up 193 yards in the final two quarters.
Both of Williams’ interceptions came in the third quarter and both stifled significant Bronco drives. Williams second pick gave the Dragons the ball at the Hutch 34. Four plays later, Pease broke containment and scampered 35 yards for a touchdown to take a 19-14 lead with 1:47 to play in the third quarter. The two-point conversion pass failed.
HCC’s defense continued to turn away the Broncos late in the fourth quarter. Davis picked off Togiailua with 3:26 to play. That set up a Kelly Roberts 32-yard field goal to give HCC a 22-14 lead with 1:55 to play.
Hendrix returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to the New Mexico Military 43. Three plays later, Davis intercepted his team-high six pass of the season and second of the fourth quarter at the Hutch 40 to seal the victory for the Blue Dragons.