This spring is unfamiliar territory for Blue Dragon football

By Colin Shields
Staff writer

For the first time in three seasons, the Hutchinson Community College football team took the field for a regular spring practice.

After missing out on the opportunity to practice in the spring of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and playing the 2020-2021 season in the spring as an extension of the pandemic, Blue Dragons coach Drew Dallas is excited for the opportunity to improve on last years 9-2 season that resulted in a Jayhawk Conference title, Salt City Bowl win, and top-three finish in the final NJCAA rankings.

“This is our first spring ball in the spring,” Dallas said. “Two years ago in the fall of 2020 ,we were able to have a spring ball calendar in the fall, and that was kind of introducing our scheme and the things we can do. And that’s really our focus is to reintroduce our scheme to returners and teach it to our new guys.”

The spring schedule will also give the Blue Dragons an opportunity to establish an identity on both offense and defense after losing 15 starters from last year’s team.

“Really, we’re trying to find an identity at what we’re good at and clean up some of those things we know we need to be good at,” Dallas said. “We’re going to try some things out that we haven’t done, put some wrinkles in that we haven’t had in the past that we haven’t had time to get to in a fall season.

“I think the biggest advantage of actually having a spring ball now for us is this will be the first time as a staff we can go through and make corrections from what we saw on the field in the fall.”

The Blue Dragons will hold a total of 19 practices from Thursday to April 27, with hopes of capping off the spring season with an intersquad scrimmage that will be available for the public to attend under the lights on April 28 at Gowans Stadium.

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