DODGE CITY, Kan. - Looking to make a statement in their home opener, the No. 8-Nationally Ranked Dodge City Community College football team did just that with a 45-21 thrashing of Iowa Central at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, September 3rd. 

DC3 evened their record to 1-1 overall with the victory while the Tritons fell to 0-2 on the season. 

Playing into a brisk wind in the first quarter, the Conq offense could not get anything going on their first two drives and would be foreced to punt the ball away to ICCC. Dodge's defense stepped up to force two punts, but would be doomed by another special teams falter as a muffed punt would be recovered in the endzone for a Triton touchdown to give Iowa Central a 7-0 lead.

Freshman quarterback Caden Walters would find his groove on the ensuing drive, hitting Tyler Minor on a 43 yard pass for a touchdown to knot the game up at seven before Alabama-commit Gary Johnson forced a fumble on the kickoff with DC3 recovering the ball to take possession at their own 45 yard line. Despite being able to take advantage of the turnover, the Conqs flipped the field on the punt and forced another turnover on the second play of the drive when Quandreko Statham forced a fumble which would be recovered by Marquise Blair. A home-run ball from Walters to Douglas Butts would result in a 30 yard touchdown to put Dodge City up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. 

The Conquistadors would outscore the Tritons 17-0 in the second quarter en route to scoring 38 unanswered points from the first quarter to the fourth quarter with a 19-yard field goal from Sebastian Mejia, AJ Walker one-yard run and 47-yard pick-six by Johnson putting the Conqs up 31-7 at the break. 

With the game in full control in the third quarter, DC3 would utilize the clock before Walker would find paydirt for the second time on a seven-yard touchdown run, allowing the defense to pin their ears back and sack the Triton quarterback four times in the game. 

Iowa Central would close the gap in the fourth quarter with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown before Tyler Minor capped off the game with a 15-yard touchdown to give DC3 a 45-14 lead. Iowa Central would go on a 10-play 54-yard play drive for a touchdown that would be the only touchdown the DC3 defense would allow on the day before the Conqs would run out the clock for the 24-point victory. 

Walters finished 11-for-18 with 173 yards and two touchdowns with a long of 47 yards going to Dennis Johnson who caught four passes for 73 yards. Minor had two total touchdowns, rushing for 96 yards and catching one pass for 43 yards and Walker had 80 yards on 17 rushes. Butts caught the other DC3 touchdown, finishing with two catches for 32 yards. 

DC3 outgained the Tritons 381-117 and had a commanding 204-10 advantage in rushing yards. The swarming Conq defense forced five fumbles and intercepted three passes leading to a plus-two turnover margin for DC3. Iowa Central was only one-for-14 on third-down conversions while Dodge City held a 32:48-27:12 advantage in time of possession. 

An extra day off this week will allow for the Conquistadors to recover from  injuries that were sustained this week as DC3 will next play at Kansas Wesleyan JV on Sunday, September 11th at 3 p.m. in Salina. The Conqs will play two more non-conference games before returning to KJCCC play on Saturday, September 24th at Butler.