In the News
The Hutchinson New | Billy Watson
The last hoorah.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., presented the Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons football team on Friday at HutchCC's Stringer Fine Arts Center with a resolution honoring them for their 14-point comeback win at the NJCAA national championship back in June.
Copies of Resolution No. 308 were given to Blue Dragons athletic director Josh Gooch, head football coach Drew Dallas – NJCAA coach of the year – and NJCAA national championship game most valuable player, Tye Edwards.
"It was passed unanimously by the United States Senate," Moran said. "It gave me not only the opportunity of asking for others senators' help but explaining the importance of this victory to a town in Kansas, a college in Kansas and what it meant to the players and the community."
The passing of the resolution honors the football team at the federal level, following a 29-27 win in the national championship on June 5, 2021 in Little Rock, Arkansas over the second-ranked Snow College Badgers. It also tied the knot on the long string of off-season awards following the title victory, the first in program history for the Blue Dragons.
"I wanted to take a step further than just... I just I called (coach Drew Dallas) and (college president Dr. Carter File) and congratulated them and told them how pleased I was," Moran said. "But it seemed important the student players also know of what they accomplished and that it was recognized as far away as Washington, D.C. and around the country."
The resolution passed in the Senate "a few months ago," Moran said as he was speaking to all the players, coaches and administration. Moran followed his short speech with a group photo with Dallas and Gooch and then a photo with the team, which includes many of the players who played in the game back on June 5.
"I'm at the view that we under-emphasize the importance of community college and technical education," Moran said, "and I am pleased to see when I am on campus about what's going on in education of Kansans..."
To recap the Blue Dragons' spring football edition, HutchCC posted a perfect 7-0 record for its eighth Jayhawk conference championship and third undefeated season in team history.
To begin the 2021 fall season, the Blue Dragons were ranked No. 1 in the preseason rankings for the third straight year. The journey to defend the national title begins at 7 p.m. on Sept. 4 . on the road at Coffeyville.
