DRAGONS LOOK TO MAINTAIN STANDARD IN 2024
By Steve Carpenter
Blue Dragon Sports Information Director
When Drew Dallas took over the Hutchinson Community College football program on New Year's Eve 2019, he spoke of establishing a level of excellence.
That standard was set right away as Dallas' first Blue Dragon team went wire-to-wire to win the 2020/21 NJCAA national championship.
BLUE DRAGON FOOTBALL
No. 3 Hutchinson (0-0) vs. (RV) New Mexico Military (0-0)
2024 Season Opener
When: Thursday, August 29, 2024
Where: Gowans Stadium, Hutchinson, KS
Kickoff: 6:02 p.m.
Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9), 5:30 p.m. (Sean Boston-PBP; Rob Dreher-Color)
Video/TV: ESPN+, 6:00 p.m. (Pat Strathman-PBP; Gary Thomas-Color)
X: @bluedragonsport
CLICK FOR BLUE DRAGON GAME NOTES (PDF Format)
Over Dallas' first four seasons, the Blue Dragons have:
+ Won 38 games, reaching 10 wins twice.
+ Won three KJCCC league championships and a league playoff title.
+ Competed in two NJCAA National Playoff semifinals, winning in 2022.
+ Played in two national championship games, winning in one of those two contests.
+ Never finished lower than third in an NJCAA final national poll.
With the bar solidly set to nationally elite levels, Dallas begins the process of molding the 2024 Blue Dragons to attain those lofty heights.
"To get to that standard is a continual yearly process," said Dallas, who is 38-4 in his first four seasons at Hutchinson. "The standard is never going to change, but the faces will. Teaching those new guys what the standard is and what the process is on a daily basis is always the challenge.
"We are at the point in our program where our program goals should really never change."
The Blue Dragons open the 2024 season with the 2021 national champion New Mexico Military Institute Broncos in a nationally televised game by ESPN+ at 6:02 p.m. at Gowans Stadium.
The Blue Dragons come off another highly successful season in 2023. Hutchinson went 10-1, reached No. 1 in the NJCAA national rankings in Week 2 and stayed up there through the remainder of the regular season. The Blue Dragons went unbeaten through KJCCC play - Hutchinson has won 14 consecutive league games, 17 counting the 2021KJCCC playoffs - to capture a fourth-straight league championship. Unfortunately, the Dragons' season was halted earlier than anticipated as Hutchinson fell to No. 4 East Mississippi in the NJCAA national semifinals.
That team was built with no returning offensive starters and just three defensive starters. What was produced was an NJCAA National and KJCCC Defensive Player of the Year in defensive end Daniel Brown, KJCCC co-offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Samari Collier, seven NJCAA All-Americans and 27 all-conference players. Don't forget about the 44 players who moved onto four-year programs from the 2023 Blue Dragon team.
The 2024 Blue Dragons have a bit more experience returning to build a base from. Led by Collier, the Dragon offense returns two starters and six overall letter winners. Defensively, the Blue Dragons return five starters and 11 total letter winners with one special teams player who was a starter.
"I really like our group of guys," Dallas said. "They've worked extremely hard and they are a pretty mature group. We are a bit more experienced this year in a couple of key spots. We are going to have some healthy competition. They've been a fun group to work with."
One oddity with the Blue Dragons this season is the fact that the KJCCC co-Offensive Players of the Year from 2023 - Collier and receiver Benson Prosper - are now on the same roster.
Collier returns to Hutchinson after a freshman season where he completed 53.5 percent of his passes for 1,367 yards and 14 touchdowns while running for 485 yards and six scores.
Prosper was a freshman receiver for Highland Community College last season. He caught 55 passes last season for 864 yards and four touchdowns. He also averaged 15.9 yards per kickoff return.
"That probably hasn't happened a lot or maybe at all where both co-players of the year as freshmen end up on the same team their sophomore years," Dallas said. "I think they would both be OK if they were co-Offensive Players of the Year again.
"I think it forms a pretty dynamic duo with just their experience."
The Blue Dragons also have a major coordinator change on the defensive side of the ball for the third-straight season.
Matt Wallerstedt is a veteran coach at all levels of college football, who came to Hutchinson after several seasons at the University of Texas-El Paso.
"Coach Wallerstedt brings a ton of college football experience and he's done it at a lot of levels in a lot of different roles. He has a really good understanding of schematics in a system and supplementing him with coach (Demarcus) Roberson, coach (Andrew) Krause and coach (Davin) Hawkins, that group has a great knowledge and they will be able to teach our kids that we feel like we have to do to be successful."
2023 OFFENSE
The Blue Dragons wound up being the No. 3 scoring team in the NJCAA last season at 37.6 yards per game and the No. 5 rushing offense at 227.3 yards per contest last season.
The Dragons will have to replace their top-two running backs in Tyrell Reed Jr. (816 yards, an NJCAA-high 13 rushing touchdowns) and Brandon Epton Jr. (540 yards, five touchdowns.)
The Dragons also saw their top six receivers move on from last season. Oran Singleton had a team-high 31 receptions for 419 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. Zeriah Beason had a team-high 523 receiving yards on 30 receptions and five scores.
The Blue Dragons averaged just 149.6 passing yards per game last season, but still managed to produce 376.9 total yards per game.
2023 DEFENSE
The Blue Dragons were tremendous on the defensive side of the ball last season.
Hutchinson had the No. 1 scoring defense in the NJCAA in 2023, allowing just 11.7 yards per game. The Dragons were No. 2 in rushing defense (67.2 yards per game allowed) No. 4 in total defense (246.5 yards per game allowed). Hutchinson was No. 2 in total quarterback sacks with 56.
The defensive front seven took the biggest hits from graduation with the losses of National Defensive Player of the Year Daniel Brown and second-team defensive tackle Danny Saili and 10 all-conference selections from the 2023 season. The Dragons also must replace first-team All-American defensive back Ryan Nolan.
POSITION BREAKDOWNS
QUARTERBACK
Collier (6'2, 226, DeSoto, Texas) will play a huge role for the Blue Dragons offensively.
A duel-threat quarterback, Collier completed 84 of 157 passes for 1,367 yards and 14 touchdowns. He had season highs of 236 yards and four touchdowns against Independence last season.
Averaging 4.7 yards per carry last season, Collier was Hutchinson's third-leading rusher with 485 yards and six touchdowns. Collier had the longest single run from scrimmage last season of 83 yards for a touchdown in a victory over Butler.
"Samari is pretty excited about getting another chance this season," Dallas said, referring to Collier and the Blue Dragons having their season halted by East Mississippi in the 2023 national semifinals. "He knew he didn't play his best game. He's looking forward to getting another opportunity to make a run at it.
"He was banged up through the course of the season and never really got into a rhythm and he hadn't ever played a down of college football, not playing at Illinois the year before. He has a better understanding of the game now."
Redshirt quarterback Christian Johnson joins Collier in the quarterback room as well as freshmen Hudson Ferralez and Caden Jacob.
RUNNING BACKS
Dallas' best rushing teams have had a full stable of running backs to continually run fresh legs at defenses.
With no starters returning, Dallas thinks this position will develop into a deep group.
Returning sophomore Waymond Jordan Jr. had an injury-plagued freshman season, but showed flashes of being a solid back late in the year. He particularly showed that in a four-carry, 99-yard, two-touchdown game in a victory over No. 2 Iowa Western.
"Waymond had some dynamic games late in the season against some really good opponents," Dallas said. "We got a little taste of what Waymond can do. He's a big, thick, physical kid."
Jordan rushed for 200 yards on 27 carries and four touchdowns last season. Julius Bolden (6'0, 195, Wichita) also returns.
Memphis transfer Walter Samuel (6'0, 200, Gonzales, La.) comes into the program to add to the depth as well as freshman Titus Petteway.
RECEIVER
With only a combined four receptions from receivers coming back, the Blue Dragons will build this position group mostly from redshirts and a promising group of transfer players.
Along with Prosper, the Blue Dragons welcome transfers Sheldon Butler-Lawson (6'2, 170, Augusta, Ga.) from Minnesota State-Mankato and Ball State transfer Dwayne Moorehead (6'2, 196, Chicago) as transfers.
Returning from 2023 is Ja'Cory Thomas, who had one catch for 4 yards. The redshirts are Tre Brown (6'4, 185, Savannah, Ga.) and Antonio Lewis (6'1, 186, Chipley, Fla.).
"I feel really good about our depth at receiver," Dallas said. "We addressed what we wanted to do at receiver in our recruiting. I think we signed a really good high school class. We are excited about this group's potential."
H-BACK/TIGHT END
First-team all-Jayhawk Conference performer Jared Napoli (6'2, 240, Shawnee, Kan.) is a returning starter.
Napoli showed a lot of versatility with his blocking and other things that normally don't show up on the stat sheets - he had one reception or 15 yards and one carry for 2 yards as a freshman.
Dallas said Napoli's contributions were most important to the 2023 team's offensive success."
"Jared has a lot of experience," Dallas said. "He's an intelligent football player who is strong and athletic. He's a guy who brings his lunch pail to work every day."
Redshirts Tate Hoover (6'2, 241, Manhattan) and Cole Coonrod (6'5, 220, Manhattan) will also battle for playing time.
OFFENSIVE LINE
For the second-straight season, the Blue Dragons have no starters returning on the offensive line. Last season, that group gelled into produced the leading rushing team in the KJCCC in 2023.
Carson Bradley (6'6, 323, Quincy, Fla.), Bubba Craig (6'6, 334, Fort Wayne, Ind.), Mason Thrush (6'2, 296, Wichita) and Jeremiah Williams (6'4, 329, Edgefield, S.C.) are redshirts back for 2024.
Transfer offensive linemen coming in will be Armando Nieves (6'6, 285, Phoenix, from Sioux Falls College), Joshua Seudass (6'6, 290, Goodland, from Butler CC) and Kevyan Stallings (6'3, 295, Wichita, from Iowa Western).
"That position on our football team no doubt will have a lot of new. Those positions, across the board will be up for grabs."
DEFENSIVE LINE
No starters return on the defensive line. Devan Lowe (6'3, 335, Olathe) had 16 tackles and two quarterback sacks last year as a defensive tackle. Dallas liked his progress over the spring season. Also back is Rudy Vargas Jr. (6'3, 295, Junction City), who had 12 tackles and three tackles for loss in 2023. The third member returning on the defensive line is Mickel Williams Jr. (6'5, 265, Punta Gorda, Fla.), who was in on three tackles last season.
Dodge City transfer JaKwon McGinney (6'3, 200, Mobile, Ala.) is an all-KJCCC performer from last season for the Conquistadors. He was in on 39 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one quarterback hurry and one pass defended last season.
On the edge, Duke Clayton Jr. (6'5, 240, Suwanee, Ga.) is back. He had 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks last season.
The defensive end position will be bolstered by three transfers: Chandavian Bradley (6'5, 221, Platte City, Mo.) from Tennessee and Marshon Oxley (6'2, 235, Los Angeles) from Colorado State.
"The D-line took a hit from graduation and placement," Dallas said.
"I also think we addressed our needs in recruiting. I think this will be a deep group for us and we expect a lot of competition for those spots and playing time."
LINEBACKERS
Tyler Blevins (6'3, 205, Sebring, Fla.) is a part-time starter back for the 2024 defenses. Blevins had 11 tackles last season, but Dallas is expecting big things from the sophomore. Jalen Rice (6'1, 205, El Dorado) was a reserve last season who had three tackles and a fumble recovery.
Incoming players will create the depth, including three transfers.
Jace Boswell (6'2, 235, Holton, Kan.) is a transfer from North Dakota. JaQuel Mack (6'3, 215, Gonzalez, La.) is from Northeastern Louisiana. Kedrick Walker (6'3, 231, Birmingham, Ala.) is a transfer from Bethel University in Tennessee.
DEFENSIVE SECONDARY
The defensive backfield has the most returning experience of any position group this season.
Demonte Gaston (6'3, 205, Pensacola, Fla.) is the top returning player with 15 tackles and two interceptions.
La'Modrick Spencer (6'1, 175, Duncanville, Texas) had 15 tackles and two passes defended as a part-time starting cornerback. Korbyn Green (6'0, 180, Tulsa, Okla.) had one pick and nine tackles last season. Ormond Wallace (6'0, 180, Pinson, Ala.) is a third part-time starter who had 17 tackles last season.
"We have a lot of guys coming back," Dallas said. "These guys had a good spring, but they have a new position coach and a new defensive coordinator to adjust to.
"We are just going to let these guys do what they are good at and see how the pieces fit the puzzle."
SPECIAL TEAMS
Place kicker Nestus Burger (5'10, 185, Perth, Australia) returns for the Blue Dragons this season. This will be only his second year of American football.
Last season, Burger was used early just on kickoffs and had 28 touchbacks in 68 attempts. He was finally used on field goals on October 7 and on his first-ever field goal attempt, Burger set a Blue Dragon single-game record with a 50-yard field goal.
With a year's experience under his belt, Burger is ready to assume all the place-kicking duties.
"For him to come into a game and kick a 50 yarder on his first attempt ever, that was foreshadowing of what he's really capable of," Dallas said. "He's working very hard on his consistency. He's doing what it takes to be at the elite level."
As far as punter, long snapper and return specialists, all of those spots will be new this season.