The No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College football team wrapped up an undefeated regular season and an outright Jayhawk Conference championship on Saturday at Gowans Stadium.
Kade Smith ran for two touchdowns and linebacker Teegan Haines led a strong defensive effort as the Blue Dragons defeated No. 14 Garden City 27-14 in the 2025 regular-season finale.
Hutchinson (10-0) reached 10 wins for the 12th time in program history. The Blue Dragons won their 13th conference championship in program history, including their sixth in a row (regular-season titles in 2020-21, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 and a playoff championship in 2021).
The Blue Dragons also won their 14th-straight game, which ties for the third-longest in streak in program history.
Hutchinson now awaits its matchup for the 2025 NJCAA Division I National Playoff semifinals, which will be December 6 at Gowans Stadium. That announcement will be made next week.
Blue Dragon quarterback Christian Johnson combined for 314 total yards to lead the Blue Dragon offense against the Broncbusters. Johnson was 17 of 30 passing for 237 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He then rushed 17 times for 77 yards, including five runs for first downs to pace the Blue Dragons.
Smith rushed 12 times for 16 yards and a pair of two-yard touchdowns. Lekedrin Harvey and Rashaud Hurt rushed for 16 yards each and Daeshawn Carter had 10 rushing yards.
Derrick Salley Jr. led the Blue Dragon receivers with a game-high five receptions for 44 yards. Eddie McLaughlin had two catches for 44 yards and a 29-yard touchdown reception. Bobby Shaw made two catches for a team-high 61 yards. LT Robinson made two catches for 32 yards.
The Blue Dragons had to overtime a season-high three turnovers.
Defensively, Haines had a tremendous game with a team-high 11 tackles, including three tackles for loss and one quarterback sack. Haines also had a forced fumble and a pass broken up on a fourth-down play that got the Dragons back after a turnover on downs.
The Blue Dragons held Garden City’s league-best rushing attack to 91 yards on 34 carries and 210 yards of total offense. Buster quarterback Dae’Onte Mitchell was 16 of 20 passing for 199 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He rushed 20 times for 72 yards.
Hutchinson’s defense racked up 15 tackles for loss, including seven quarterback sacks. Kevin Moorer had two sacks. J’lynn Allen had 1.5 sacks.
The Blue Dragons forced three takeaways – fumble recoveries by Moorer and an interception by Ray Reynolds Jr., to seal the game in the fourth quarter.
Freshman kicker Alejandro de la Poza was 3 of 3 on extra points and 2 of 3 on field goals from 24 and 21 yards. Now with 12 field goals this season, de la Poza ties Michael Mesh for second on the Blue Dragon single-season field goals list.
Following a Blue Dragon turnover and subsequent Garden City turnover on downs, the Dragons marched 62 yards in nine plays to score the game’s first touchdown. After Johnson’s 28-yard run to the Garden City 2, Smith plowed into the end zone with 6:00 to play in the opening quarter for a 7-0 lead. The only other points of the half came on a de la Poza 24-yard field goal with 1:55 left in the second period for 10-0 Hutchinson lead at halftime.
Another defensive stop on downs to open the second half set the Dragons up at their 40. Eight plays later, McLaughlin caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Johnson for a 17-0 Blue Dragon lead with 8:35 to go in the third period.
Garden City then put together its longest drive of the game, going 88 yards in eight plays with Cenard Bennett catching a 38-yard touchdown pass with 5:01 to go in the period, cutting the Dragon lead to 17-7.
Hutchinson answered right back with a 78-yard scoring march. Smith scored from 2 yards out to complete the six-play drive for a 24-7 lead with 1:22 to go in the third quarter.
After a Blue Dragon turnover at their own 2-yard line. Mitchell scored for the Busters to cut the Dragon lead to 24-14 with 9:11 to go. De la Poza kicked a 29-yard field goal with 5:16 remaining to give the Dragons a 27-14 lead.
GAME NOTES – Hutchinson held Garden City to 0 of 5 on fourth downs Saturday. … The last time the Blue Dragons won 14 games in a row came from 1968 to 1970. … The Blue Dragons have won seven-straight games over Garden City and are now 45-40 all-time against the Busters, 21-17 in games played at Gowans Stadium. … The Blue Dragons are 5-0 against nationally ranked opponents this season and are 28-4 against ranked opponents in the Drew Dallas era. … The Blue Dragons ran a season-high 78 offensive plays. … The seven quarterback sacks on Saturday were second most this season to the 10 sacks against Independence on October 8.
