By Hutchinson CC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – After an interesting opening week of the junior college football season, the Hutchinson Community College football team climbed back to No. 1 in the first NJCAA Division I football rankings of the season released on Monday.
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The Blue Dragons (1-0) traveled to No. 11 Navarro last Saturday and defeated the Bulldogs 42-6. Previous No. 1 Iowa Western had a much-closer game on Saturday at Dodge City, defeating the Conquistadors 27-20.
This is the fifth time in program history that the Blue Dragons are the No. 1 team in the NJCAA Rankings.
The first time at No. 1 was a five-week run in 2019. The 2020/21 Blue Dragons started the season No. 1 in the preseason rankings and went wire-to-wire to win a national championship. The 2021 Blue Dragons were preseason No. 1, but lost the season opener, ultimately finishing at No. 3. Last season, the Blue Dragons spent six weeks at No. 1 before falling in the NJCAA Championship Game.
The Dragons received seven first-place votes to IWCC’s three and narrowly moved past the Reivers. Hutchinson had 147 poll points to Iowa Western’s 143. Yet to open its season, Northwest Mississippi stayed at No. 3. Kilgore moved up to No. 4 and Garden City had the biggest jump of the week, climbing five spots to No. 5.
Butler slipped one spot to No. 13 after a five-point loss to Garden City. Highland and Coffeyville are both receiving votes this week. Coffeyville fell from No. 6 after the Scotties upset the Red Ravens on Saturday.
The Blue Dragons open the 2023 season at Gowans Stadium at 11 a.m. on Saturday against the Ellsworth Panthers.
The Blue Dragons have been ranked in 19-consecutive ranking periods.
