BLUE DRAGONS TO MEET NAVARRO IN SALT CITY BOWL
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The No. 13-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team will meet the Navarro Bulldogs in the 10th annual Salt City Bowl.
The matchup was made official Wednesday morning by the Salt City Bowl committee.
The 2018 edition will kick off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 1 at Hutchinson's Gowans Stadium. Ticketing information for the 10th annual contest will be located on the bowl's official web site www.saltcitybowl.com.
The Blue Dragons will make their 21st overall bowl appearance, making their last eight in the Salt City Bowl. The Blue Dragons are 11-7-2 all-time in bowl games and 6-1 in the Salt City Bowl.
Navarro makes its 20th all-time bowl appearance, the first since 2013. The Bulldogs are 13-5-1 in previous bowl games.
Hutchinson and Navarro have met only twice before. The Bulldogs won both meetings as part of the Jayhawk Conference-Texas Conference challenge. Navarro win 54-34 in 2012 at Corsicana, Texas and 41-16 in Gowans Stadium in 2013. That was a stretch of years where Navarro went 19-5 and had two of the best offenses in that program's history.
Hutchinson finished the 2018 regular season 8-3 and finished second in the ultra-tough Jayhawk Conference. The Dragons were ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation this season – holding that spot for four weeks.
The Blue Dragons, offensively, averaged 34.8 points and 371.9 total yards per game. The Dragons, led by 1,000-yard rusher Dezmon Jackson, were second in the Jayhawk Conference in rushing at 202.9 yards per game.
Defensively, the Blue Dragons were stellar allowing 19.8 points and 244 yards per game. The Dragons forced 27 takeaways and were fifth in the NJCAA in quarterback sacks with 41.
Navarro finished the season 6-4, tying for third in the Southwest Junior College Football League this season. The Bulldogs were ousted from the playoffs by Kilgore in November 3. Currently receiving votes, the Bulldogs were ranked as high as No. 10 in the NJCAA rankings this season.
Navarro had another potent offense scoring 36.4 points and racking up 490.9 total offensive yards. The Bulldogs threw for 321.5 yards and rushed for 169.4 yards per game.
Defensively, Navarro allowed 33.2 points and 346.6 yards per game.