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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Sunday, October 28, 2007
INDEPENDENCE – With the Hutchinson Community College receiving corps depleted, the
Blue Dragons looks over to the defensive side of the ball for a little help
on Sunday in the 2007 season finale at Independence.
Freshman safety Jasper Simmons played both
ways on Sunday and caught a game-winning 47-yard touchdown pass from
freshman quarterback Skylar Travis with 2:37 to play in the fourth quarter
and give Hutchinson a 13-9 victory, snapping a five-game losing streak and
completing Rion Rhoades first season as Blue Dragon coach at 2-7.
The Blue Dragons, who finished tied with
Independence for fifth place in the Jayhawk Conference with 2-5 records,
snapped a 10-game road losing streak and an eight-game road losing streak in
conference games.
The move to put Simmons on offense was
precipitated by the game-ending injury to leading receiver Danny McEvoy, who
caught a 50-yard touchdown pass and blocked a punt in the first half before
leaving the team in the second quarter.
“Danny’s a big player for us, a sophomore and
I wish he could come back next year,” said Simmons, who hauled in a go-ahead
47-yard touchdown pass from Skylar Travis with 2:37 to play in the game.
“When the coaches told me to go into the game as a receiver, it was just
like I had to do anything for the team.”
“Jasper did not work any ‘O’ this week,” HCC
head coach Rion Rhoades said “We were working with three receivers late and
Jasper jumped over there and we just drew it up on the sideline for him. We
knew Jasper could stretch the defense vertically.”
With Hutchinson trailing 9-6 in the fourth
quarter, the Blue Dragon defense was called upon to stop Independence
possessions that started at the Pirate 33, the Hutch 14 and the Indy 46.
Each time the Dragons stepped up to the challenge, holding the Pirates twice
on downs and forcing a punt.
After one of those defensive stops, the
Dragons started at the Indy 42 with 4:02 to play in the game. The Dragons
had numerous opportunities to score earlier in the game, but couldn’t cash
in because of four turnovers.
Finally, the Dragon offense got the break it
needed. Facing second-and-10, Travis found Simmons, who split a pair of
Independence defenders, in stride for a 46-yard touchdown and a 13-9 lead
with 2:37 to play in the game.
“I made a move to the outside and when I saw
the safety bite, I cut back in and was wide open,” Simmons said. “It was a
good pass. It was a good play. We had to do this for the sophomores in their
last game.”
“We brought Jasper in to give us a spark,”
Travis added.
Both teams traded possessions after the HCC
touchdown. Freshman punter T.J. Hipsher, who filled in for starting punter
Kevin Crow, who was ejected right before halftime, popped a huge 34-yard
punt that went out of bounds at the Indy 12 with 59 seconds left in the
game.
That left it up to the HCC defense, which
allowed a first down, but ended the game in grand fashion when Jose Ramirez
sacked Indy quarterback Jeff Schibi on the last play of the game.
“They’ve grown an incredible amount and it’s
neat to see the dependence on each other,” Rhoades said. “It took us a while
to figure that we could depend on each other. I’m proud of them for
weathering the tough times. They’ve really picked up the slack the last
couple of weeks.”
Hutchinson led 6-3 at halftime. But after
McEvoy left the game, the Dragon offense wasn’t able to muster much. HCC had
just 10 yards in the middle two quarters.
That put a Dragon defense that has struggled
at times throughout 2007 in a tough position having to defend one of the
Jayhawk Conference’s top passing offensives and bookend receivers in Andre
Simmons and Boo Holiday.
The Blue Dragons held Independence without a
first down until late in the second quarter. Overall, the Pirates had 278
yards total offense. Simmons did have seven catches for 74 yards and one
touchdown. Holiday had four catches for 27 yards. HCC’s defensive front
pressured Schibi all day long, holding him to 16 of 40 passing for 143
yards.
Four different times Independence took
possessions in Dragon territory and twice in the red zone after turnovers.
Indy came away from those possessions with no points, missing a field goal
and turning the ball over on downs.
“Indy has and good offense and we were down a
couple of guys this week,” Rhoades said. “It was big the way the defense
played. The kids executed the plan and played with great intensity. We
didn’t make any magical calls.”
Travis, making his first career start at
quarterback for the injured Chris Todd, completed 7 of 19 passes for 133
yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Travis also led the Dragons
with 56 rushing yards on eight carries.
“I just tried to go out there and play,”
Travis said. “The rest of it was my teammates and they played great today.
We just really came together these last two weeks.”
The Blue Dragons struck first when Travis
hooked up with McEvoy on a 50-yard touchdown strike with 7:33 to play in the
first quarter. Hipsher missed his first extra point of the season when his
attempt was blocked.
The Blue Dragons continued to dodge Indy
bullets, but the Pirates finally broke through when back-up kicker Paydon
Shaw booted a 26-yard field goal with 3:48 to play in the first half.
The only sustained drive by Independence came
in the third quarter. Indy went on a 14-play, 78-yard drive that was capped
off by Simmons’ 15-yard touchdown reception with 1:21 to play. Simmons was
flagged for taunting and the Pirates were forced to kick a 37-yard extra
point that missed wide right.
GAME NOTES – In his first game as a
punter, T.J. Hipsher had five points for a 40.8 yard-per-punt average with
all four doing inside the 20-yard line. … The Dragons won their eighth game
at Independence. … Danny McEvoy finished his Blue Dragon career with 61
receptions, which is third best in a Blue Dragon career. His 45 receptions
this season tied Greg Dykes for fourth in a single season. … HCC tied
Independence for fifth place with 2-5.
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