Blue Dragons rack up
515 total yards in rout
of Hudson Valley
No. 14 Hutchinson 52, No. 19 Hudson Valley 7
December 6, 2014
Gowans Stadium, Hutchinson, KS
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The No. 4-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team completed the most successful season in the program’s 83-year history on Saturday at Gowans Stadium after a 52-7 victory over No. 19 Hudson Valley in the sixth-annual Salt City Bowl.
The Jayhawk Conference champion Blue Dragons finished 2014 at 11-1 to establish a new team record for victories in a season. Five previous teams won 10 games in Blue Dragon history.
In the process, the Blue Dragons extended their team-record bowl winning streak to seven games dating back to the 2004 Heart of Texas Bowl.
Hutchinson freshman quarterback Kylen Binn was named the Salt City Bowl’s Offensive Most Valuable Player. Binn, who made his first career start on Saturday, threw for 149 yards and four touchdowns while completing 17 of 28 passes. He connected on scoring passes of 21, 4, 20 and 3 yards to three different receivers.
Blue Dragon sophomore defensive end Jeremiah Ledbetter was the game’s Defensive MVP with 10 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks. Ledbetter moved into a second-place tie with Adam Davis on HCC’s career sacks list with 22.5. He took over sole possession of second place on the single-season sacks list with 15.5.
The Blue Dragons set Salt City Bowl records for total yards with 515 total yards. HCC gashed Hudson Valley’s No. 5 nationally ranked rush defense for a Salt City Bowl record 341 yards and 7.6 yards per carry. Tory Smith set an individual Salt City Bowl record with a career-high 149 rushing yards on 12 carries and one touchdown. Travis Custis rushed for 119 yards and accounted for two touchdowns, one rushing and a 21-yard receiving touchdown.
Bryce Harvey had a team-high five receptions for 30 yards. Freshman Anthony Autry had four catches for 42 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, linebacker Lakel Bass had a game-high 12 tackles and one interception. Sophomore Claude George finished with nine tackles and sophomore safety Riley Hunsicker had eight tackles, one pass broken up and one blocked punt.
The Blue Dragons limited Hudson Valley (8-2) to 237 yards of total offense. The Vikings had 159 rushing yards led by Elijah Udoh’s 62 yards and Tyler Gagnon’s 60. HCC held Hudson Valley to 78 passing yards.
HCC opened the scoring with a Kassidy Lemons’ 26-yard field goal with 9:40 to play in the first quarter. They made it 10-0 on their next possession, parlaying a DeQuan Bowman 28-yard punt return to the Viking 23 into a 21-yard Custis touchdown reception on a screen pass from Binn.
Hutchinson made it 17-0 in the second quarter with one of its most impressive single offensive possessions of the season. The drive covered 88 yards in 11 plays and two third downs were converted. The drive was culminated with a 4-yard Binn-to Curtis Stallbaumer touchdown pass with 8:09 remaining in the half.
HCC forced another punt and subsequently went on another scoring march that covered 52 yards in 10 plays. The scoring drive looked to be in trouble, facing fourth-and-16, Binn connected with Autry on a 20-yard scoring strike for a 24-0 lead with 1:04 to play in the first half.
Following an ill-fated onsides kick by Hudson Valley, the Dragons marched 389 yards in eight plays and took a 31-0 lead on a second Binn-to-Autry TD connection, this one from 3 yards out with 12:22 to play in the third quarter.
Hudson Valley finally got on the board after recovering a muffed Blue Dragon punt return. Gagnon scored from 12 yards out to help the Vikings cut the deficit to 31-7 with 8:09 to play in the third quarter.
The Blue Dragons then hurt the Vikings with three big scoring plays. Custis went up the gut for a 51-yard touchdown run to make it 38-7 with 1:38 remaining in the third quarter. Bradan Smith punched one up the middle for a 50-yard scoring run with 5:56 remaining in the game for a 44-7 lead. Tory Smith finished it off with a 24-yard touchdown run with 1:29 to play.