Hutchinson football rallies for comeback win over Snow for first NJCAA championship
For the first time in program history, the Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons football team is a national champion.
No. 1 Hutchinson rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit and held on late to secure a 29-27 victory over No. 2 Snow College in the NJCAA national championship game on Saturday played at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Tye Edwards, a 6-foot-2, 235-pound bowling ball at running back, was chosen the game’s MVP after rushing for a game-high 139 yards with a pair of touchdowns, including the game-winning score in the fourth quarter.
Its third undefeated regular season in program history, Hutchinson’s 8-0 record under first-year coach Drew Dallas also included the Blue Dragons’ seventh Jayhawk Conference championship.
That certainly didn’t seem to be likely not even halfway through the first quarter when Snow buried Hutchinson in a 14-0 deficit in the first seven minutes. Things didn’t get much better, as Hutchinson had to settle for a field goal from the Snow 5-yard line, then its next drive was stopped on fourth down on its own 31-yard line.
The turning point of the game seemed to be when Snow missed a field goal, then Edwards broke off a 68-yard touchdown run.
When Snow extended its lead to 21-10 in the third quarter, Hutchinson answered when Anwar Lewis broke free over the right side for a 29-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 21-16. It was Lewis again who scored early in the fourth quarter to give Hutchinson its first lead, 22-21, with 12:48 remaining in the game. Lewis finished with 73 rushing yards on 16 carries.
After Hutchinson’s defense forced a three-and-out of Snow’s offense, the Blue Dragons scored on their third straight offensive possession when Edwards capped off a seven-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge for a 29-21 lead with 7:27 remaining.
Snow made things interesting by quickly driving for a touchdown (and failing on the game-tying two-point conversion), then forcing a Hutchinson punt with 1:19 left. That gave Snow one final shot, but it was quickly ended when Hutchinson linebacker Tre Pinkney, who also had a sack, jumped an out route to the sidelines and secured the game-clinching interception.
While Hutchinson did all of its scoring on the ground, its offense moved efficiently through the air with dual quarterbacks. Dylan Laible threw for 150 yards on 10 completions, while C.J. Ogbonna was a perfect 5-for-5 for 128 yards. Cortez Braham (four catches for 112 yards) and Tyrone Howell (six catches for 108 yards) both broke 100 yards.
Jurriente Davis led the defense with 10 tackles, including a sack and 2.5 tackles for a loss. Roterius Torrence added the team’s other interception, while Gereme Spraggins (six tackles), Deonte Stanley (five) and Daishon Folsom (five) were all busy on the defensive end too.
This story was originally published June 6, 2021 at 10:23 AM.
.jpg)