HUTCHINSON, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – The Hutchinson Community College football team officially earn its fourth all-time appearance in the NJCAA Division I Football Playoffs on Monday, drawing the No. 3 seed in the pairings released on Monday.
The Jayhawk Conference tri-champion Blue Dragons (9-1) will play No. 2 seed Georgia Military (10-1) in the second NJCAA national semifinal on Sunday, December 8 at 2:30 p.m. CT (3:30 p.m. ET) in Milledgeville, Georgia.
Iowa Western (10-1) is the No. 1 seed and will play host to fourth-seeded and Mississippi champion Northwest Mississippi (10-1) on Friday, December 6 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
NJCAA DIVISION I NATIONAL PLAYOFFS
Semifinals
Friday, December 6 in Council Bluffs, Iowa
No. 4 Northwest Mississippi (10-1) at No. 1 Iowa Western (10-1), 7 p.m.
Sunday, December 8 in Milledgeville, Georgia
No. 3 Hutchinson (9-1) at No. 2 Georgia Military (10-1), 2:30 p.m.
Championship
Wednesday, December 18 in Canyon, TX
Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m.
CLICK FOR FINAL NJCAA DIVISION I FOOTBALL RANKINGS
The two semifinal winners will play in the NJCAA Championship game on Wednesday, December 18 in Canyon, Texas at West Texas A&M University.
Both semifinal games will be in ESPN+.
This will be Hutchinson’s third-straight national semifinal appearance. Two years ago, the Blue Dragons defeated Coffeyville 38-7 in the 2022 semifinals. Last season, the Blue Dragons were upset by East Mississippi 27-23.
Hutchinson bids for its third national championship game appearance in the last five seasons. The Blue Dragons defeated Snow College 29-27 in the 2020/21 championship game but lost 31-0 to Iowa Western in the 2023. Both of those games were played in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Blue Dragons will make their 28th bowl/national playoff in program history. Hutchinson is 16-9-2 all-time in the postseason (not counting KJCCC/Region 6 playoff games).
The national semifinal game between Hutchinson and Georgia Military will be the first matchup between the two teams.
This will be only the second time that the Blue Dragons will have played a Georgia-based team. The Blue Dragons lost 42-37 to Middle Georgia in the 1995 Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Missouri.
The game will feature the Nos. 2 and 3 rushing teams in the NJCAA.
The Blue Dragons are third in the country in rushing at 265.0 yards per game and has the nation’s leading rusher in Jayhawk Conference Offensive Player of the Year Waymond Jordan Jr. (1,331 yards with 18 rushing touchdowns).
The Bulldogs are second in the nation at 275.9 yards with four players at 490 or more rushing yards. Keenan Phillips has a team-high 827 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.
