HUTCHINSON, Kan. — No. 1 Hutchinson (10-0, 6-0) erased an early 13-0 deficit (and later a 14-point deficit) to defeat No. 2 Iowa Western (10-1, 2-0) and complete a second undefeated regular season.
Just three minutes into the contest, Hutchinson sent Nestus Burger on the field to attempt a 43-yard field goal. Burger never got a chance to swing his leg after a muffed hold.
Clev Lubin returned the ball 60 yards for a Reiver touchdown, but officials quickly huddled for a discussion.
An inadvertent whistle occurred during the recovery, the touchdown was waved off and Iowa Western's offense took the field at the Reiver 40.
Hunter Watson led the Reivers on a nine-play, 60-yard drive that was capped with a Jonathan Humpal three-yard run.
The touchdown came after a defensive pass interference penalty on a 3rd-and-11 stop.
Iowa Western increased its lead to 13 after a 68-yard dash from Watson. The Dragons blocked the extra-point attempt and answered with a 12-play drive.
The Dragons covered 69 yards in 12 plays as Tyrell Reed found pay dirt from three yards out.
With 5:05 left in the first half, Humpal struck again with another three-yard touchdown run. Iowa Western took advantage of an offside penalty during the extra point.
The Reivers elected to move half-the-distance to the goal and try for two. The conversion was successful on a Kyrell Jordan reverse.
Trailing 21-7, Hutchinson got a boost from its No. 1 defense. Daniel Brown recorded a strip-sack and Walter Bob Jr. fell on the ball at the Reiver 23 to give the Hutchinson offense great field position with only 1:02 remaining in the half.
Samari Collier found ManMan Singleton on a 31-yard pass to pull the Dragons within seven at the break.
"It created momentum," Dragon head coach Drew Dallas said of Brown's strip-sack. "When the momentum wasn't with us, the defense stepped up and we recaptured the momentum."
The Dragons pulled within seven with only 46 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Hutchinson tied the game with 45 seconds left in the third.
"Our guys took that personal," Dallas said of his team trailing at the half. "They wanted to win this one, it was important to them."
Collier just missed Tre Richardson and Singleton on back-to-back shots at the end zone. Facing 4th and 4 from the 22, Collier connected with Singleton to extend the drive.
Collier called his own number to cap the eight-play, 50-yard drive with an eight-yard run.
After trailing by 14, the Dragons put up 28 unanswered.
Brandon Epton Jr. got on the board with a 55-yard touchdown scamper and Waymond Jordan Jr. scored his first-of-two TDs on the day with a 16-yard run.
Leading 35-21, the Dragons lost Nate Sullivan on play-action and Watson hit him for a 70-yard score with 9:03 to go.
"There were miscues," Dallas said. "But each and every time, our guys responded the right way."
Jordan Jr. put the icing on the cake with his 47-yard touchdown run with 5:47 remaining.
FINAL: Hutchinson 42 Iowa Western 28
The 42 points are the most Iowa Western has allowed in a contest since 2016.
K'Von Sherman led the Dragons with 10 tackles, three tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks.
Brown added two sacks to his nation's best 17.
Three Dragons (Epton Jr., Jordan Jr. and Reed) ran for 80-plus yards.
Epton Jr. led the way with 122 yards on the ground and one touchdown.
Jordan Jr. ran for 99 and two scores.
Reed notched 80 yards and scored once.
Collier was 8-of-17 for 122 yards. He had one touchdown through the air, one on the ground and one interception.
Watson led the Reivers with 73 yards on the ground and threw for 179 on 7-of-14 with one passing touchdown.
The Dragon defense sacked Watson seven times.
Meanwhile, the Reivers sacked Collier six times.
The Dragons now wait for the final poll to drop Nov. 19.
The top four teams in the nation (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3) will play in the national semifinal to determine the two teams destined for Little Rock on Dec. 13.
Semifinal games are scheduled for Dec. 2 and Dec. 3.
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