Blue Dragons out of sync in first loss of the season

By Greta Klein
Sports Editor
X: @gmklein32

Helmets off and heads down, as the shuffle of Hutchinson Community College college football players makes their way to the locker room, one player shouts out, “This one’s on us.”

The Blue Dragons had their first loss of the season against the Butler Grizzlies 27-22. 

Even before Saturday’s kickoff, there was tension on both sides of the Gowans Stadium. Chirping and chanting from players and fans raised the game to higher stakes.

Butler got off to a fast start, scoring the game’s first points just 4 minutes, 55 seconds after kickoff and maintaining the lead afterward. Nestus Burger kicked a 32-yard field goal to put the Blue Dragons on the scoreboard but trailed the Grizzlies 6-3. Butler boosted their lead to 20-3 but with 0:34 seconds left in the second quarter, Waymond Jordan Jr. scored a touchdown along with a cleared kick by Burger to help give some life to the Blue Dragons before going into halftime, down 20-10.

“That first half, we found ourselves behind the chains quite a bit,” Blue Dragons coach Drew Dallas said. “With some penalties and some negative plays, that leads to being out of sync and not being able to give a rhythm.”

Despite trailing the whole game, the Blue Dragons came back from halftime with more energy and fight. During the fourth quarter, Butler got their final touchdown of the game while Hutch had an additional two. Even with the efforts made by the Blue Dragons, they fell short.

“We were beating ourselves,” redshirt freshman Tre Brown said. “So it really wasn’t nothing (they were doing). They weren’t doing spectacular, we were just beating ourselves.”

The Grizzlies put on the pressure throughout the game, forcing six turnovers, and penalties throughout the game. Butler scored 21 points from turnovers, and the Blue Dragons’ seven penalties resulted in 51 yards.

“Once you get to the fourth quarter, and we were down multiple possessions, you have to spread it out and try to get hit quick,” Dallas said. “Our guys did that, we had a chance there at the end and to take advantage of it and didn’t happen for us. We did what we had to do to stay in the game and give ourselves a shot at the end.”

The chance for a comeback was possible but with a slow start in the first half, it was difficult for the Blue Dragons to rally while being out-of-sink as a team.

“I think it’s a lesson to be learned,” Jordan said. “When we aren’t playing our best, we still can be beat. So, the bye week is going to help us at practice and take everything more seriously.”

Even though the Blue Dragons were not expecting this loss, lessons were made and improvements will be made for the upcoming Highland Scotties in two weeks.

 “I think we did well in some areas,” Dallas said. “We have to be more consistent in some areas, early downs, staying ahead of the chains is a big part of that. We got to the point of the game where we had to spread it out and move fast and jump it around. And those guys stepped up as well.”

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