By DAREN DUNN
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Dylan Laible had as many touchdown passes Saturday afternoon as he did incompletions: five.
The 6-5 quarterback from Little Elm, Texas, is in his third season with the Blue Dragons after getting an extra year of eligibility from the pandemic. Coach Drew Dallas said Laible had that veteran look in the season opener against No. 13 Navarro.
"There was just a different look in Dylan's eyes," Dallas said, referencing Laible's ability to see the defense better pre-snap and make necessary adjustments.
Laible went 13 of 18 for 278 yards and five touchdowns. His day was done early in the third quarter, something reminiscent of the Dragons six-game run to finish the season No. 5 in the country last year before the playoff.
While the passing game stole the show Saturday, it was actually the run game that put the first points on the board.
Rontavious Richmond broke free on a 23-yard scamper to put Hutchinson on top 7-0 with less than three minutes of game time gone.
From there, Laible found Micah Woods once, Marcello Bussey twice, and Malik Benson once to close out the first half.
The longest touchdown play of the day went to the nation's top recruit, Malik Benson. The Alabama commit took a short pass from Laible and turned it into a 90-yard touchdown.
The Dragons took a 35-0 lead into the locker room thanks to the 50-yard bomb to Woods, the 48-yard dagger to Bussey, a 15-yard shot to Bussey that came one play after a Terry Kirksey fumble recovery, and the short pass that went 90 yards to Benson.
Kirksey, a 6-3 sophomore, led Hutchinson with five tackles, two for loss.
The Dragons allowed 216 yards, only 80 on the ground. Hutchinson's offense put up 521 yards, 341 came through the air.
The Dragons missed long field goal opportunities from 41, 40 and 50. The 50-yard field goal would have set a Blue Dragon record. Kicker Cole Segraves actually made the kick from 50, but the play was blown dead for a timeout as the play clock expired. On the attempt, Segraves was hurt. Connor Gellender stepped in for the long kick and came up just short.
The Dragons forced three fumbles, recovered two, and intercepted the Bulldogs three times.
Hutchinson's special teams took advantage of a gap in Navarro's return formation. The sky and squib kicks offered the Dragons more offensive opportunity. "The wind played tricks and gave us a short field," Dallas said of Navarro's muffed kick returns.
The Dragons did have 12 penalties for 110 yards, but Dallas said many of those infractions were "effort" penalties that were hard to criticize.
"They flew around, they played hard, they played together," Dallas said of his team's 42-0 victory.
Laible found Woods again early in the third quarter. The 18-yard TD pass capped a six-play, 65-yard drive. That drive marked the longest of the day for Hutchinson as the previous five drives took three plays or fewer.
FINAL: Hutchinson 42 Navarro 0
Hutchinson is on the road next Saturday to play Ellsworth in Iowa Falls, Iowa.
The Panthers (0-1) lost 48-25 earlier this week at DuPage.
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