On Thursday evening, the Broncos opened the 2024 season in Kansas, stumbling to No. 3 Hutchinson Community College 42-10 at Gowans Stadium. 

Q1

After a quick three and out from the Broncos offense, the defense grabbed their first turnover of the Oliver Soukup era on the second defensive play after linebacker Damon Mayberry forced a fumble and Rayden Aphayvong was quick to fall on the ball, giving possession back to the Bronco offense. After back-to-back punts by NMMI, Hutchinson opened the scoring with 7:29 on the clock off a 26-yard run by Waymond Jordan Jr. After another quick offensive possession by NMMI, Hutchinson took the 14-0 lead behind a 68-yard touchdown connection from Samari Collier to Ja'Cory Thomas. In their next possession, the Broncos turned the ball over, giving Hutchinson the ball on the NMMI 25 yardline. Two plays later, the Blue Dragons made it a three possession game with a touchdown pass from Collier to Derrick Sally Jr. 

Q2

After four Bronco punts, the defense earned its' second turnover of the half off an interception by defensive back Stilton McKelvey as jumped the route to get the offense back on the field.With their second possession of the quarter, the Broncos moved the ball 65 yards before missing a field goal attempt to keep the score 21-0. Three plays later, Christian Johnson connected with Sally Jr. for 68 yards to give Hutchinson the four touchdown advantage. With the longest offensive drive of the game, NMMI drove 66 yards before Elliot Paskett-Bell found Kris Harbin in the corner of the endzone for a nine yard touchdown connection. 

Q3

The second half quickly started with a two play possession by Hutchinson which resulted in a long 54-yard touchdown run by Jordan Jr to give the Blue Dragons a 35-7 advantage. Following another Bronco punt, the defense earned its third with the help of an interception by linebacker Vili Fano as he picked off Collier. 

Q4

As the rain showered the field, both teams combined for four consecutive punts. With 9:51 to go in the game, Johnson gave Hutchinson the 42-7 lead with an eight yard rush. On the next possession, the Broncos drove the ball nearly 60 yards before making it a 42-10 game behind the leg of Jack Nelson as he drilled a 26-yard field goal attempt. Hutchinson moved the ball 50 yards and tried to attempt a field goal, but McKelvey blocked the attempt to keep the Blue Dragons at 42.

Despite the loss, first year head coach Oliver Soukup was able to take away some positives from game one, "I was proud of us in the second and fourth quarters we showed some fight in us but the first and third quarters hurt us," Soukup said. "Causing four turnovers, we were plus three in the turnover battle which is huge." With next week to look forward to, Soukup reflected on the loss, "It's a lot of first game jitters, everybody getting used to each other. Those are problems you're going to have but we'll get them corrected," Soukup said. 

As a team, NMMI totaled 315 offensive yards with a balance of 165 passing yards and 150 rushing yards. Paskett-Bell added 57 rushing yards on eight attempts for NMMI. 

On defense, the Broncos tallied three interceptions and recovered a fumble while holding Hutchinson to 5-of-13 on third downs. Aphayvong lead the Broncos with six solo tackles and 9 total tackles. The defensive back added to a stellar performance with an interception and a fumble recovery. 

The Broncos return to the field next Saturday, Sept. 7 as they travel to Herriman, UT for a 6 p.m. matchup against the Utah Islanders.