Hutchinson CC Sports Information
WICHITA, Kan. (bluedragonsports.com) – The Hutchinson Community College football team was picked as the preseason favorite to win the 2023 Jayhawk Conference championship on Friday, according to the league’s annual preseason coaches’ poll released at the KJCCC Football Media Day at Stadium.
This marks the fifth-straight season the Blue Dragons were picked as the preseason favorites to win the league. The 2022 Blue Dragons lived up to that prediction by going 6-0 en route to the program’s 10th conference title and an appearance in the NJCAA playoffs. The 2022 Blue Dragons were 11-1 with a national semifinal victory over Coffeyville and a championship game appearance against Iowa Western.
The 2023 KJCCC predicted order of finish is:
1. Hutchinson
2. Coffeyville
3. Butler
4. Coffeyville
5. Independence
6. Dodge City
7. Highland
The three Iowa schools that make up the KJCCC/ICCAC football scheduling alliance were also present on Friday at Riverfront Stadium. The predicted order of finish for the ICCAC was Iowa Western , Iowa Central and Ellsworth.
For the 2023 Blue Dragons, fourth-year head coach Drew Dallas, 28-3 in his first three seasons, has very little returning experience. Hutchinson has no starters returning on offense and only one on defense in cornerback Jaymar Mundy.
“We have new faces, but our standard’s not going to change,” Dallas said. “We have a goal and we are going to enjoy the process to work toward it. I’m excited about the crew we are returning.
“We had 34 guys graduate from our program who moved onto Division I programs. We are going to have to replace a lot of snaps. We are going to have to replace plenty of production. I feel like we have good talent in to replace what we lost, but those guys are unproven.
The Blue Dragons have one returning All-American in kicker Cole Segraves, who tied a single-season record with 14 field goals and scoring 95 points last season.
The Dragons return the most experience back on the defensive line with honorable mention all-conference returning Danny Saili and Walter Bob Jr.
All-KJCCC honorable mention return specialist Darby Roper also returns.
In addition to all of the player turnover from last season, Dallas will have two new coordinators on staff as Tony Koehling is the new Blue Dragon offensive coordinator. Gary Salgado was promoted to defensive coordinator.
“New is going to be the name of the game for us,” Dallas said.
The Blue Dragons begin preseason camp next week before the August 26 season opener at Navarro College. Hutchinson’s first home game will be September 2 against Ellsworth at Gowans Stadium.
The Dragons have Ellsworth, Coffeyville, Dodge City, Garden City and Iowa Western on their home schedule in 2023.
