Sep 22, 2025
Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Kamare Williams of Iowa Central catches a long pass against Hutchinson on Saturday inside Dodger Stadium. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net
The ninth-ranked (NJCAA, Div. I) Iowa Central football team scratched, clawed and hung on for as long as possible against No. 1 Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College on Saturday inside Dodger Stadium.
The defending national champion Blue Dragons finally broke free of the Tritons’ grasp midway through the fourth quarter, pulling away for a 35-17 victory by scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final eight-plus minutes.
Highly-touted prospect Derrick Salley Jr. had 142 receiving yards and caught three scoring strikes from Christian Johnson as Hutchinson (3-0 overall) overcame two lost fumbles, a Marcellus Chandler kickoff return for a TD and a botched punt to prevail.
Iowa Central (2-1), meanwhile, was left wondering what may have been after seeing four different drives stall inside the Blue Dragon 30-yard line without a single point.
“A lot of missed opportunities,” ICCC head coach Jesse Montalto conceded. “When you’re playing the top-rated team in the country, you have to take advantage of those moments and get points when they’re available. We just didn’t do that consistently enough.
“Our guys played hard. We were up to the challenge from an intensity standpoint. We just had a lot of little things add up on us. You have to put points on the board when you have that many trips into their territory, and we came up empty too often to expect to come out on top.”
Trailing 14-0 in the closing minute of the opening quarter, Chandler sprinted 98 yards to the house to bring the Triton sidelines and fanbase to life. It would remain a 14-7 contest into halftime, as both squads had multiple good looks go by the wayside in a scoreless second quarter.
Iowa Central pulled even with its best sustained drive of the day, marching 75 yards in 14 plays to paydirt with 3:24 left in the third quarter. Damarcus Creecy capped things off with four straight quarterback keepers, breaking through the line for a 13-yard touchdown.
Hutchinson returned the ensuing kickoff 64 yards into Triton territory, though, and the 6-foot-4 Salley Jr. caught a 10-yard TD pass to put the Blue Dragons ahead to stay. A 36-yard field goal by Anderson Trejo did get Iowa Central back within 21-17, but Johnson and Salley Jr. connected one final time from 29 yards out to put Hutchinson back up by double digits.
The Blue Dragons blocked another Triton FG try – their second such stop of the afternoon – and on the next snap, Lekedrin Harvey broke free for an 80-yard TD run to seal the deal with 2:05 left in regulation.
The Tritons did get fumble recoveries from Batpiny Riak and Joey Evans, and linebacker Taylor Schaefer recorded a sack and a number of big tackles. Hutchinson had 442 yards, though – somewhat inflated thanks to Harvey’s late burst – and held the Iowa Central ground game to 64 yards on 45 carries.
Creecy had 116 passing yards and 46 on the ground for the Tritons. The signal caller was intercepted twice, including David Jester’s 75-yard pick six on fourth down in the opening period to break the scoring ice.
“We know what we need to clean up on both sides of the ball,” Montalto said. “They’re No. 1 for a reason, but we were right there with them until late. That’s an encouraging sign.”
Iowa Central now heads to Council Bluffs for a date with No. 2 Iowa Western on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Tritons’ Homecoming contest is Oct. 4 against Dodge City.
IC H
First Downs 16 22
Rushes-Yards 45-64 29-213
Passing Yards 208 229
Comp-Att-Int 12-29-2 17-26-0
Total Yards 272 442
Punts-Avg. 2-36.5 2-32.5
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-2
Penalties-Yards 7-60 7-75
Hutchinson 14 0 7 14 — 35
Iowa Central 7 0 7 3 — 17
Scoring Summary
Hutchinson — David Jester (75-yard interception return), 9:54 left first quarter. Alejandro de la Poza Cohrs kick.
Hutchinson — Derrick Salley Jr. (44-yard pass from Christian Johnson), 0:33 left first. de la Poza Cohrs kick.
Iowa Central — Marcellus Chandler (98-yard kickoff return), 0:20 left first. Anderson Trejo kick.
Iowa Central — Damarcus Creecy (13-yard run), 3:24 left third. Trejo kick.
Hutchinson — Salley Jr. (10-yard pass from Johnson), 1:23 left third. de la Poza Cohrs kick.
Iowa Central — Trejo (36-yard field goal), 14:10 left fourth.
Hutchinson — Salley Jr. (29-yard pass from Johnson), 8:45 left fourth. de la Poza Cohrs kick.
Hutchinson — Lekedrin Harvey (80-yard run), 2:05 left fourth. de la Poza Cohrs kick.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Iowa Central: Damarcus Creecy 15-46, Anthony Hall 15-14, Tyler Smith 8-7, Jacoby Pointer 2-6, Ty Purdy 3-2, Jacob Kania 1-0, Team 1-(minus-11). Hutchinson: Lekedrin Harvey 5-104, Titus Petteway 7-76, Christian Johnson 8-28, Derrell McBride 4-19, Rashaud Hurt 2-5, Rayvelle Leak 2-3, Team 1-(minus-22).
Passing — Iowa Central: Damarcus Creecy 4-9-2-116, Tyler Smith 5-11-0-65, Ty Purdy 3-9-0-27. Hutchinson: Christian Johnson 17-26-0-229, Eddie McLaughlin 0-1-0-0.
Receiving — Iowa Central: Kamare Williams 2-86, Jacob Kania 5-57, Dalen Huston 2-35, Darrion Gilliam 2-24, Marcellus Chandler 1-9. Hutchinson: Derrick Salley Jr. 8-142, LT Robinson 2-35, Kordell Gouldsby 2-16, Bobby Shaw III 3-14, Lekedrin Harvey 1-12, Derrell McBride 1-10.
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