SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College football team has garnered recognition among the national media, as the Blue Dragons are the No. 1 team in the JCGridiron Preseason Dirty 30 Rankings.
JCGridiron is a Rivals site affiliated with Yahoo Sports. The JCGridiron portion of the site is the leader in junior college football recruiting news.
Brad Hoiseth, the owner and publisher of JCGridiron has been promoting junior college football and ranking teams in his Dirty 30 Rankings for the past 20 years.
The preseason rankings are often questioned, according to Hoiseth.
"During the spring, JCGridiron solicits the coaches in an attempt to locate the top talent for the Rivals database," Hoiseth said. "If coaches do not respond, they are likely not to get as high of a ranking as they would expect. The bottom line is, if we don’t know what you have it’s hard for us to give you a high ranking. Fortunately, most of the power programs do respond because they understand the importance of promoting their players and getting them in the database."
Hoiseth had this to say about the Blue Dragons: "The bullseye to start the season is on Hutchinson, who seems to have all the necessary pieces to make another run at a title. The Blue Dragons last won a title during the COVID-19 season (20-21) and have been knocking on the door for a second title ever since. Head coach Drew Dallas is 38-4 since taking over the reigns and was in a great spot to win the title last season before falling in a tight battle to East Mississippi in the NJCAA semifinals. They should be the favorites for a third straight Jayhawk Conference title. Hutch should be very good on both sides of the ball, but particularly gritty on defense."
The Blue Dragons open the season on Thursday, August 29 at 6 p.m. against New Mexico Military Institute at Gowans Stadium. The game can be heard on the flagship station for Blue Dragon athletics, Country 102.9 (KHUT-FM).