No. 33 sophomore Dylan Boyd put Wellington on the board first with a touchdown following a blocked punt. (Photos by Eric Rinehart). 

By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Buhler traveled to Wellington and humbled the Red Crusaders 42-14, Friday night at John Gifford Field.

Wellington, now 4-2, could not contain Buhler back Landon Martinez, who ran roughshod over the Wellington defense with 234 yards on 40 carries. He accounted for all five of Buhler’s touchdowns.

Offensively, Buhler outdistanced Wellington 408 yards to 171, and dominated the time of possession 32 to 10 minutes. Still, Wellington was very much in this game, trailing 21-14 with 5:15 to play in the third. Buhler added a touchdown at the end of the third quarter to take a 28-14 lead.

Wellington had life early in the fourth after stopping Buhler in its territory; the Crusaders got the ball near midfield. It then got the benefit of a pass interference, putting them on the Buhler 38. But four incompletions later, Wellington turned the ball over on downs.

Easton Lynnes (No. 8) with a huge tackle.

Buhler then pieced together an 8-play, 53-yard drive that ended with Martinez’s 30-yard touchdown run at the 3:06 mark. Wellington would lose its composure in the final minutes, as Buhler tacked on two more touchdowns to make this game look more like a blowout.

“They just matched us physically-wise and punched us in the mouth early, and we struggled to respond,” said Ryan Jenkins, Wellington head football coach. “We’ve got to do better. We’ll be seeing another running team next Friday night. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

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The game got off on a promising start. After the defense stopped the Maroon, Wellington sophomore Dylan Boyd blocked a punt deep in territory and took it to the house to put the host in front 7-0.

But Buhler responded with a nine-play drive that was capped by a Martinez 26-yard touchdown.

Colton Elmore made his presence known on defense.

The score remained 7-all throughout the second quarter, but Buhler went on a 12-play 72-yard drive near the end of the half, and Martinez again scored from the 3. Buhler drove down to the 3 but ended the half on a missed field goal.

A muffed punt proved disastrous for the Dukes at the start of the third quarter, and Martinez scored on the next play to give the visitors a 21-7 lead. Wellington then pieced together its most successful play of the night, a 15-play 80-yard drive that included a successful 24-yard pass from Elmore to Jon Armstrong. It ended with an 8-yard touchdown screen pass from Elmore to Vohn Williams, and Wellington was back in it 21-14.

Buhler put together another long drive, this time nine plays for 80 yards, and led 28-14 going into the fourth quarter.

Wellington will now travel to Fort Scott next Friday.

For all the stats, click here.

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