1 NATIONAL TITLE • 12 JAYHAWK CHAMPIONSHIPS • 24 BOWL APPEARANCES
GAME PREVIEW
THE SHOWDOWN Garden City Head Coach Tom Minnick was not shy when he was asked to breakdown Hutchinson during Monday’s Broncbuster Athletic Association Luncheon. “They have dudes at every position,” he said. “They may be the most talented team in the country.” Truth be told, the Blue Dragons have never had problems bringing in talent. Since Rion Rhoades replaced Craig Jersild in Dec., 2006, his recruiting classes have always been towards the top of the nation. Just consider some of the talent that’s rolled through Gowan’s Stadium:
running back Alvin Kamara, who arrived on campus in 2014 as a transfer from Alabama to take the Jayhawk Conference by storm. How about wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, who was a first-team, NJCAA All-American in 2011 and a first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings just two years later. This year’s team is no exception. Every July when the coaches gather in Wichita to vote on the Jayhawk Preseason poll, there’s always a sense of who the big man in the room is. Former Independence Coach Jason Brown pretended it was him for the previous two years, playing television star as the cameras followed his every move. Little did anyone know that he would become the first coach to win a share of the conference title one year before becoming the first in history to finish last the following season. Big man or big myth? Before that, Troy Morrell, the NJCAA Hall of Famer and former Butler head man, owned that distinction for more than two decades, leading the Grizzlies to three National titles. But once Butler fell from the national spotlight, there have been two programs who have garnered much of the attention each summer: Garden City and Hutchinson.
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GETTING OVER THE HUMP
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When Garden City was picked sixth in the Jayhawk preseason coach’s poll in 2016, there weren’t many that circled their Sept. 17 trip to Gowan’s Stadium as a must watch. But the Broncbusters had deviated from the script, grabbing wins over Ellsworth, Highland and Independence, setting up a matchup of two unbeatens.
Future NFL first-round pick Mike Hughes returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown, BJ Blount had a 34-yard pick 6, and Luke Herring kicked the go-ahead field goal with 7:19 to play in the third, lifting the Broncbusters to a 16-14 win over the sixthranked Blue Dragons. Garden City snapped an eight-game losing streak to Hutchinson and rolled to their first-ever National title. The Blue Dragons meantime lost six of their final nine games to finish 5-6.
Hutchinson coach Rion Rhoades aims to be the perfect poker player. He never shows his hand, even if hes bluffing. But even he had to know something was up this time around.
2019 BRONCBUSTER FOOTBALL