IOWA FALLS, Iowa – The Hutchinson Community College football team achieved something on Saturday it hasn’t done since the 2020-21 season – holding an opponent to negative total offensive yards.
The top-ranked Blue Dragons held the Ellsworth Panthers to a negative-6 total yards and closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 50-0 victory at Cadet Field.
The 4-0 Blue Dragons won their eighth consecutive game dating back to last season and will be the last Jayhawk Conference team to open league play when they conclude a month-long road trip next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Dodge City. Ellsworth fell to 2-4.
With a season-high nine quarterback sacks and a season-high-tying 16 tackles for loss, the Blue Dragons held Ellsworth to four first downs, 57 passing yards and a negative-63 rushing yards.
The last time the Blue Dragons held an opponent to negative total yards was minus-1 yard by Highland on May 9, 2021.
The Blue Dragon defense forced four takeaways – interceptions from Amir Hill and DaMun Allen and fumble recoveries by Kyrece Robinson and Jawon Springs, who had his recovery in the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter.
The Dragons also forced nine Ellsworth punts and held the Panthers to negative yardage on 9 of 17 possessions.
Offensively, the Blue Dragons had 393 yards – 240 rushing and 153 passing.
No. 2 quarterback Hudson Ferralez was Hutchinson’s leading rusher with 78 yards on 11 carries. Rayville Leak had 47 yards on 11 attempts and starting quarterback Christian Johnson had 40 yards on just two carries. Derrell McBride, Rashaud Hurt and Lekedrin Harvey all had rushing touchdowns.
Ferralez completed 8 of 14 passes for 81 yard and one touchdown. Johnson was 2 of 4 for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Seven different receivers caught passes for the Dragons. Derrick Salley Jr. had two catches for 72 yards, one for a 50-yard touchdown, his eighth scoring reception of the season. Eddie McLaughlin had two catches for 26 yards and Kaiden Seamster had two catches for 14 yards. Bobby Shaw III caught a 29-yard touchdown pass.
Freshman placekicker Alejandro de la Posa booted his first two career field goals from 39 and 32 yards.
The Blue Dragons struck for three first-quarter touchdowns. Harvey scored from 2 yards out with 9:47 to play in the quarter. Salley took a short jet sweep pass from Johnson and sprinted 50 yards for a score with 7:55 remaining and Hurt capped off a third scoring drive with a 3-yard scamper into the end zone for a 21-0 lead with 2:54 left in the first quarter.
Ferralez connected with Shaw on a 29-yard touchdown strike with 7:46 left in the second quarter for the only scoring of the period. Hutchinson led 28-0 at halftime.
Hutchinson had 10 points in the third quarter – a de la Poza 39-yard field goal and Springs’ fumble recovery in the end zone for a 38-0 lead after three quarters.
McBride scored from 12 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 45-0 lead. The Dragons tacked on a team safety on an Ellsworth punt snap that went out of the back of the end zone and a de la Poza 32-yard field goal.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 24-1 in true road games in the Drew Dallas era. … The Dragons are now 10-4 all-time against Ellsworth, which includes seven wins in a row, and are 5-2 in games played in Iowa Falls. … The Dragons posted their first shutout since October 12, 2024 against Independence. … This is the third time in the last four games against Ellsworth to hold the Panthers to negative rushing yards. … This was the second time this season the Dragons have scored 50 or more points in a game. … Hutchinson has hits fourth-straight 4-0 start to a season. … Punter Denzel More had three of his five punts downed inside the 20, including one at the Ellsworth 1-yard line. More also had a long punt of 63 yards.
