Rested Blue Dragons ready for Broncbusters

By Rebecca Carney
Co-Sports Editor

The Hutchinson Community College football team has a pretty big weekend ahead.

The 8-1 Blue Dragons are nationally ranked at No. 4 and are scheduled to take on the 8-0, No. 2 ranked Garden City Broncbusters at noon on Saturday at Gowans Stadium. The winner of this game could potentially have a spot in the NJCAA national championship game next month in Pittsburg.

Two weeks ago, the Blue Dragons had big win over Dodge City, and it did not go unnoticed by coach Rion Rhoades.

“It was really good outing for us,” Rhoades said. “I thought our team did a really good job of handling going to Dodge City and doing the things they need to do to get a big win.”

Coming off the win at Dodge, the football team headed into a much-needed bye week.

The Blue Dragons took full advantage of their week off. The team needed an opportunity to get rested, and with any luck, get some much-needed players back on the field. A light week of workouts for the team will hopefully help the team to be physically ready on Saturday.

Standout players Monty Montgomery and Dezmon Jackson both agree that last week was the perfect week for a bye week.

“We’ve had some rough games, the last two games,” Jackson said, “They’ve been very physical and they play very hard. I think this (bye) week will help us get ready for the Garden game.”

The next step is to take down Garden City and keep things under control and where they need to be.

“It can be real easy to get too amped up for a game like this, and I think that could be detrimental. There’s a real happy-medium we have to get to,” Rhoades said. “We’re in it emotionally and we’re invested. We’re excited to play and have energy and enthusiasm, but we have to make sure it doesn’t become a detriment to us. That is something we have to be aware of.”

The winner will also be crowned the Jayhawk Conference champion, as this will be Hutchinson’s final conference game. Garden City still has to play Butler.

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