By STEVE CARPENTER
HutchCC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The 12th Salt City Bowl will feature perhaps the best matchup in the history of the game in 2021.
After a one-year hiatus because of the Coronavirus Pandemic in the 2021 season, the Salt City Bowl announced a marquee matchup in the bowl's return as No. 5 Hutchinson (8-2) takes on No. 8 Hinds Community College (8-3) at 1 p.m. on Dec. 4 in Gowans Stadium.
There has been only one other Top 10 matchup for the Salt City Bowl, which came in 2015 when No. 3 Snow met No. 9 Dodge City.
The 2021 matchup features the two-time defending Jayhawk Conference champion Blue Dragons, winners of five in a row - which includes a three-game aggregate run through the KJCCC playoffs of 168-19 - and the Mississippi Community College Athletic Association south division co-champion and conference runner-up Hinds Eagles.
The Blue Dragons will be making their 24th all-time bowl appearance in 2021. The last bowl game was the NJCAA National Championship game last June in Little Rock, Arkansas, a 29-27 victory over Snow College.
The Blue Dragons make their 10th appearance in the Salt City Bowl, earning an 8-1 record in the first nine SCB appearances. Hutchinson defeated Monroe College 45-21 in the 2019 Salt City Bowl.
Hinds will be making its 10th all-time bowl appearance. The Eagles are 3-6 in previous bowl games. The Eagles last played in a bowl game in 2019, the Graphic Edge Bowl in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and lost to Iowa Western 34-19. The last bowl win for Hinds came in 2000, a 27-12 win over Southwest Mississippi in the Mississippi Magnolia Bowl.
The 2021 Salt City Bowl will feature two 1,000-yard running backs in Hutchinson's Anwar Lewis and Hinds' Jeffrey Pittman, and the NJCAA's No. 1 passer in Hutchinson's Dylan Laible.
Lewis has rushed for 1,063 yards with 11 touchdowns. Pittman has amassed 1,019 yards and 21 touchdowns. Laible is averaging a nation-high 255.1 passing yards per game. Laible has completed 55.4 percent of his passes for 2,551 yards with 29 touchdowns.
Statistically, the Blue Dragons offensively average 37.7 points, 165.0 rushing yards, 217.1 passing yards and 436.7 total yards per game. Hinds is averaging 30.6 points, 178.1 rushing yards, 184.5 passing yards and 362.6 total yards per game.
Defensively, the Blue Dragons are allowing 15.8 points, 99.6 rush yards, 182.6 pass yards and 282.2 total yards. The Eagles surrender 23.5 points, 177.5 rushing yards, 130.1 passing yards and 354.4 total yards allowed.
To purchase tickets in advance, Blue Dragon ticketing has the following link available to do so: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/7412372/2021-salt-city-bowl-hutchinson-vshinds-hutchinson-blue-dragon-athletics-gowans-stadiumhutchinson-community-college-football.