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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Saturday, September 19, 2009
DODGE CITY – The top-ranked
rushing team in the NJCAA was at it again as the Hutchinson Community
College football team ran for a season-high 460 yards and had four players
with more than 80 yards, including two with more than 120, in a 61-3 Jayhawk
Conference rout of Dodge City on Saturday night at Dodge City’s Memorial
Stadium.
The sixth-ranked Blue
Dragons got a game-high 154 yards and two touchdowns from freshman Romero
Cotton and 121 yards and two scores from sophomore Chris Clay as Hutchinson
broke the 400-yard rushing mark for the second-time in three games. Freshman
quarterback Angelo Pease ran for 84 yards and a score and freshman Chris
Anderson had 83 yards and two more touchdowns to bring his season total to
nine TDs in three games.
“It’s a big-time blessing to
have that many guys who can carry the ball,” HCC head coach Ryan Rhoades
said. “It seems like a guy would get winded and the next guy would get in
there and do just as well. That’s a real positive for us. For a team that
hang’s its hat on a run, we have to have a lot of guys who can do it.”
The Blue Dragons’ punishing
running attack helped produce the third-most points scored against Dodge
City in series history and tie for the eighth-most in team history, tying
the 61-point outing against Haskell College in 1986.
The 58-point margin of
victory was the largest ever against Dodge City and was the sixth-largest
margin of victory in team history.
Hutchinson snapped a
five-game losing streak to Dodge City (0-4, 0-3) at Memorial Stadium.
Hutchinson (3-0, 2-0) starts
a season 3-0 for the first time since 2004 and for the 14th time in program
history.
“I am really proud of our
team,” Rhoades said. “It was a good win. Dodge City is a well-coached team
and I told our players that their players came to college on a football
scholarship, too. Dodge City is going to win some games. To get this win, I
am really happy for our group.”
The Dragons averaged 8.7
yards per rush on 53 attempts. Eight different backs had at least one carry.
Cotton ran for scores of 2
and 76 yards, while Clay had scoring runs of 22 and 7 yards. Anderson,
coming off a school-record six touchdowns one week ago against Highland,
scored on runs of 4 and 11 yards. Pease had his first rushing touchdown of
2009 with a dazzling 24-yard jaunt into the end zone.
“We are deep,” said Cotton,
who became the third different HCC back in as many games to lead the team in
rushing. “If somebody goes down, we have people to step in there and not
miss a beat.”
“We had a couple of
mistakes, but it was clicking,” said Clay, who became the 15th Blue Dragon
back to reach 1,000 career rushing yards (1,045). “We practiced hard and it
paid off.”
The Blue Dragons rolled up
508 total offensive yards, surpassing the 500-yard plateau for the second
time in three games. Pease and freshman back-up C.J. Madison were a combined
5 of 10 passing for 48 yards. The Blue Dragons scored at least 13 points in
each quarter. The Dragons had 24 first downs, 21 via the rushing game.
Hutchinson has now scored
167 points in its first three games of 2009, which are the most points ever
scored in any three-game stretch in team history. The mark topped the 1948
total of 161 points.
Defensively, the Blue
Dragons were dominant, holding Dodge City without a touchdown for the first
time since 1994 (19 games in the series) and holding any opponent without a
TD since a 17-0 win last season at Garden City (6 games).
The Blue Dragons held Dodge
City to just 91 total yards (80 rushing, 11 passing), just five first downs
and forced 10 Conquistador punts. Dodge City was 0 of 14 on third-down
conversions.
Most of Dodge City’s offense
came on a 12-play, 57-yard drive that resulted in a Antonio Rodriquez
40-yard field goal into a stiff south wind. The Conquistadors had just 34
yards combined on its 12 other possessions.
The Hutchinson defense also
turned in its share of offense by scoring two touchdowns in the same game
since last season’s opener against NEO. Sophomore safety Matthew Pearson
first returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown and later picked up
and carted a 34-yard fumble recovery into the end zone.
“Our defense is coming along
pretty good,” said Pearson, who scored his second and third career Blue
Dragon defensive touchdowns. “We are progressing all the time. We want to
stay focused and we did that better today. We want to stay
assignment-sharp.”
The Dragons forced three
turnovers in all, scoring 21 points from those Dodge City miscues.
The Blue Dragons now enter a
critical stretch of the season when they travel to No. 7 Fort Scott for a 1
p.m. kickoff next Saturday in Fort Scott.
GAME NOTES
– Head Coach Rion Rhoades moves over the .500 mark in his coaching record at
HCC for the first time at 12-11. … Rhoades moves into sole possession of
ninth on the HCC coaching win list (12) and 10th on the winning-percentage
list (.522). … HCC has its first two-game winning streak over Dodge City
since 2003. … The Dragons are now 41-33-2 all-time vs. Dodge City and
18-20-2 at Dodge City. … Romero Cotton became the ninth different Blue
Dragon offensive player to score a touchdown this season. Hutch had just
eight offensive player score in 2008. … HCC is now 7-0 under Rhoades when
the team scores 35 or more points. … Clay and Anderson have both scored at
least one touchdown in each of the first three games.
BOXSCORE
PHOTO GALLERY
OTHER QUOTES
Head coach Rion Rhoades
On the team’s quick start
…
“We got off to a good start.
I like that we are able to stay focused and that’s a good thing for our
team. The guys seem to have that focus no matter what the score is. We are
going to take it one play at a time.”
On the Blue Dragon
defense …
“I am really proud of the
defense. We felt like we ought to be able to max out pretty well against
their offense. I am really proud of the guys for executing against them.”
Freshman Romero Cotton
On scoring his first
collegiate touchdowns …
“I haven’t been in the end
zone for a while, so it was nice to be back in there and getting the
opportunity to make those scores for our team. I was looking at the (video
board) hoping nobody would catch me.”
On his role on the team …
“My role is to help the team
out anyway possible. If I get a chance to get in there and block for the
other two, that’s what I am going to. We have five great backs on this team
that can get in there and carry the load. I’m just going to sit there and
wait for that opportunity and do my job when I am asked to do it.”
Sophomore Chris Clay
On his performance
against Dodge City …
“I felt like I had to have a
good game again to prove myself again. It was good for both of us to have
good games. We push each other to make each other better so it does work
this good.” |
