TITLE TOWN: DRAGONS RALLY FOR FOOTBALL CROWN

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – After trailing Snow College through three quarters of Saturday's NJCAA National Championship game, the No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team made the final quarter of the 2020-21 season perhaps the most memorable in Blue Dragon history.

The Blue Dragons scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, made a key stop on a Snow 2-point conversion and Trey Pinkney sealed the deal with an interception with 1:03 remaining to help the Blue Dragons rally for a 29-27 victory over the No. 2-ranked Badgers at War Memorial Stadium and win the program's first national championship in its 89-year history.

Hutchinson running back Tye Edwards was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Edwards was key to the Blue Dragon comeback, rushing for 139 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. Edwards broke through several tackles for a 68-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to pull the Blue Dragons within 14-10. Edwards added a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 7:27 to play in the fourth quarter to give Hutchinson a 29-21 lead.

First-year head coach Drew Dallas was named the NJCAA National Coach of the Year after the game on Saturday. Hired on December 31, 2019 and having to wait 471 days to coach his first game, Dallas led the 2020-21 Blue Dragons to an 8-0 record, the program's eighth Jayhawk Conference championship and first national championship in the program's 89-year history.

The Blue Dragon football team won the second national championship for the Hutchinson Community College Athletic Department in the 2020-21 season, joining the Blue Dragon men's golf team, which won its championship in May in Lubbock, Texas. This is the eighth national championship in Blue Dragon program history. The 2020-21 Blue Dragons join the 2020-21 men's golf team, the 1988, 1994 and 2017 men's basketball, 1954 and 1959 men's track and field and 2001 women's cross country teams into that elite group.

Through the 2020-21 regular season, the Blue Dragons trailed for a grand total of 15 minutes, 38 seconds. No. 2 Snow almost tripled that, leading the Blue Dragons for 41 minutes, 58 seconds on Saturday.

The Badgers had leads of 14-0 and 21-10 over Hutchinson. Snow scored the first two touchdowns of the game and took its 11-point lead with 4:50 to play in the third quarter on a Mehki Kimble 11-yard touchdown run.

At that point, the Blue Dragons made a change at quarterback and inserted C.J. Ogbonna into the game. Ogbonna hadn't played since the second quarter of the Independence game on May 2. The move was positive as Ogbonna guided three-straight Blue Dragon scoring drives to take the lead.

First, Ogbonna engineered a five-play, 79-yard scoring drive capped by Anwar Lewis' 29-yard touchdown run around right end. The Dragons missed on a two-point conversion and trailed 21-16 with 2:08 to play in the third quarter. Ogbonna hit Cortez Braham with a 34-yard pass on third-and-10 to extend the drive.

After a Badger punt, the Dragons started at their own 13. Ogbonna completed passes of 40, 21 and 21 yards to Tyrone Howell. The Dragons took their first lead at 22-21 when Lewis burst up the middle for 3 yards with 12:48 to play in the fourth quarter. The Dragons again went for two and missed.

The Dragon defense forced a three-and-out and a 24-yard Snow punt gave Hutchinson the ball at Badger 45. Hutch converted one third down and needed seven plays to cover the 45 yards, capping the drive with Edwards' 1-yard touchdown run. C.J. Moya added the extra point and Hutch led 29-21 with 7:27 to play in the fourth quarter.

Snow immediately answered with a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive and scored on Gabe Sweeten's 6-yard scoring run. The Badgers missed on the two-point conversion and Hutch maintained a 29-27 lead with 4:50 to play.

The Blue Dragons picked up a couple of first down and drove to the Snow 38 when the drive stalled. The Dragons thought they had a game-clinching first down when Dylan Kedzior ran a fake punt for a first down, but the Dragons were called for an illegal formation and negated the play.

Punter Caleb Brickhouse dropped 32-yard punt at the Snow 11. Two plays later, Pinkney jumped a crossing route and clinched the victory with an interception at the Snow 17.

The Blue Dragons out-gained Snow College 511-390. The Dragons had 278 passing yards and 233 rushing yards. Snow had 239 passing yards and 151 yards on the ground.

Ogbonna completed 5 of 5 passes for 128 yards. Dylan Laible was 10 of 22 for 150 yards and an interception. In addition to Edwards' MVP effort, Lewis rushed for 73 yards on 16 carries. Howell caught a career-high six passes for a career-high 108 yards. Braham had four receptions for 112 yards.

The Blue Dragons held the nation's No. 6 rusher, Seth Kaelin to 37 rushing yards on nine carries. Snow quarterback Garrison Beach completed 11 of 16 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns and an interception before leaving the game. Sweeten was 2 of 9 passing for 54 yards.

The Blue Dragons had the only two takeaways in the game, interceptions by Roterius Torrence and Pinkney.

Jurriente Davis led the Blue Dragons defensively with 10 tackles. Gereme Spraggins had six tackles. Deonte Stanley and Daishon Folsom had five tackles each.

The Badgers scored on the first two possessions of the game. Beach threw for touchdowns of 8 yards to Deuce Robertson and 69 yards to Tejhuan Palmer. The touchdowns came 1 minute, 29 seconds apart the Snow led 14-0 with 8:17 to play in the opening quarter.

The Blue Dragons' first score was a 22-yard Moya field goal that capped off an 11-play, 69-yard drive. Hutchinson trailed 14-3 with 3:39 to play in the first quarter.

After the first of three missed field goals by the Badgers, the Blue Dragons needed two plays to score. Edwards covered the final 68 yards with a scintillating run to pull the Blue Dragons to within 14-10 with 14:37 to play in the second quarter.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons complete only its third undefeated season in program history, joining the 1947 and 1969 teams. … With the victory, the Blue Dragons have now won 10 games in a row, the third-longest win streak in program history (25 from 1946-48 and 13 from 1968-70). … The Blue Dragons are now 14-7-2 in 23 all-time postseason appearances. … The 139 rushing yards by Tye Edwards is his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and fourth by a Blue Dragon this season. … The Blue Dragons complete 89 years of football with a 502-345-28 all-time record.