NJCAA Division 1 Football Week 3 Rankings

CHARLOTTE, NC – Following Saturday’s thrilling 38-37 win in a matchup of the top two ranked teams in last week’s NJCAA Division 1 football poll, Hutchinson Community College has moved up to the unanimous number one team in the country in the latest poll released on Monday, September 9th.

Along with the Blue Dragons, Highland is ranked 11th, Garden City is ranked 14th, and Butler is receiving votes in the week three poll for the 2024 season.

It took a defensive stop with three seconds left in regulation by HCC as Iowa Western scored a touchdown to pull within one before going for two and the win as Hutchinson has now won four straight regular season matchups with the Reivers including the last three games played in Council Bluffs. The number one ranking is the 22nd week including preseason polls that Hutchinson has held down the top spot in the NJCAA rankings and first since the final poll of the regular season last year (November 20, 2023) as the Blue Dragons finished number three in last year’s final poll. This week’s ranking also marks the 36^th straight week that HCC has been ranked, the third-longest streak in program history.

Another thriller up in the Hawkeye State saw Highland earn a 14-13 victory by taking a 14-10 victory after one quarter of play and holding the previously number eight ranked Tritons to just three points the rest of the way. The Scotties has limited their first two opponents to a 6.5 points per game average, the third-best average in the NJCAA among teams who have played at least two games against NJCAA opponents.

After falling out of last week’s rankings to among those receiving votes, Garden City bounced back from a season-opening loss in a big way by dispatching previously number 15 ranked Dodge City by a score of 38-9 by scoring the first 38 points of the game and outgaining the Conquistadors 358-151 in total yardage to be ranked number 14 in this week’s poll. Also bouncing back from a season-opening loss in week one was Butler as the Grizzlies made the long trek to Ellsworth Community College worth their time with a 66-0 thrashing of the Panthers.

Only NJCAA Region 23 (Mississippi) can claim more teams in the rankings this week as the conference has the number five (Mississippi Gulf Coast), number eight (East Mississippi), number 10 (Jones College), and number 15 (Copiah-Lincoln) ranked teams while having double the number of teams that sponsor football as the KJCCC.

In this week’s action, Highland kicks things off with an 11 AM kickoff against Ellsworth while Dodge City will also head north with a trip to Council Bluffs to take on number two Iowa Western in a 1 PM kickoff. Top-ranked Hutchinson returns home to host number 12 ranked Iowa Central at 12 PM while Independence hosts Butler (1 PM) and Coffeyville hosts number 14 Garden City at 7 PM in games between conference foes.