by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Welcome to the 101st year of Wellington Crusader football… or better known as COVID pandemic Year 2. 

At least at this point, we can look fondly back to the hamburger scrimmage. Maybe someday we will be reminiscing:

“Who could forget that stirring 80-yard run by quarterback prospect Malichi Rogers against the junior varsity defensive starters at that scrimmage? That 2021 was quite a year.” 

Wellington was the first school in the state to shut down operations due to the rising number of positive COVID cases within a school district. It coincidentally occurred late Thursday night right after the annual Crusader Club scrimmage. The school will remain closed all week and not re-open until Sept. 7. That meant Wellington’s season opener in Clearwater is now canceled. The Crusader season begins — tentatively, of course — on week 2 when Wichita Collegiate comes to town on Sept. 10. 

As far as long-term implications go, the delay in itself will probably have little effect on the Crusader program. The Friday night cancellation will not count as a loss when it comes to the year-end playoff positioning, according to Wellington head coach Zane Aguilar. When the state playoffs are seeded, Wellington and Clearwater will go with the records they have. 

“Last year, Independence played four games during the season and they were still seeded in the postseason,” Aguilar said. 

Whether Wellington is able to play the seven other games, will only be determined by time. Last year, Wellington miraculously played all nine games that included an impromptu trip to Dodge City to play Ulysses when El Dorado canceled. But it is evident early that this year could be as difficult as 2020.

Aguilar sighs: 

“It is what it is. There are a lot of things out of my control and we’ll adjust accordingly. I guess my biggest frustration is it takes a week away from our team cohesiveness. We were just starting to gel as a team and now we will won’t be back to practice until Sept. 7. That can’t help.” 

If the season can earnestly get started for the Dukes, Wellington is an intriguing team to watch. 

The team has speed, a transfer who could immediately start at quarterback, and maybe the most athletic freshman class Wellington has seen in quite a while. But on the other side, the offensive and defensive lines lack depth and experience. There are only 47 football players out. An injury or two will most likely set the program back more so than in other years.

The Crusaders, who had a very competitive matchup with Clearwater to start the year, will now have to play Wichita Collegiate and Andale right out the gate – their two toughest opponents. It could get dicey early on.

Still despite that, this season has a lot of promise. Wellington’s schedule gets less rugged in week 4 when it takes a trip to Labette County. Wellington’s next opponent, Rose Hill, has some holes to fill. By week #7, when Wellington traditionally starts to gel, it will play Buhler at home – in a rematch of its biggest victory of last year.

So putting the COVID-19 pandemic aside here is what to expect and who to watch for this 2021 Crusader season:

The basics: 

Classification: 4A, League: Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Div. 4.

2020 record: 3-6. Finish: Lost week 9 to Ark City. 2020 league record: 0-5.

Offense: spread. Defense: 4-3. 

Coach: Zane Aguilar, fifth year as Wellington head coach. Career record: 18-30

Assistant coaches: Ryan Elder, Ross Foley, Nick Wellington, Ryan Jenkins, Tim Lira, C.J. Carey. 

Returning starters: six offense, seven defense. 

The schedule: 

Friday/Sept 3 – Clearwater, away CANCELLED.

Sept. 10 — Wichita Collegiate, home (Youth night).

Sept. 17 — Andale, home. 

Sept. 24 — Labette County, away. 

Oct. 1 — Rose Hill, away. 

Oct. 8 — El Dorado, home (Homecoming). 

Oct. 15 — Buhler, home (Senior Night). 

Oct. 22 — Mulvane, away. 

Oct. 29 — Playoff first round. 

The potential starters: 

Quarterback 

Aguilar would not commit to who the starting quarterback would be last week. But judging from Thursday night’s scrimmage, it was clear Malachi Rogers (6-0, 190, jr.) is the odds-on favorite. Who is Rogers? He is a transfer from Wichita West and he became a starter when his family moved to town. He pretty much dropped into the lap of the WHS football program. No one seems to be complaining. Rogers, as people saw Thursday night, has the ability to run and throw passes on the move. The key factor is the element of the unknown. He has yet to take a snap as a Crusader in a game-time situation… ever. 

This is the one position, Wellington has depth. Cope Henry (5-11, 170, jr.) could come in as a starter. It is hard to keep Henry off the field because of his athletic ability so he has been transferred to either running back or wide receiver or a combination of which is what he played last year. 

Running back

Aguilar said the key to Wellington’s success is to get around the edges with its speed. If you are looking for 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football, Wellington won’t be your team. 

The running back situation is very, very good for the Crusaders. Dustyn Schettler (6-2, 210, sr.) is big and fast. He ran for 846 yards in 2020 on 136 carries for a 6.2-yard average with five rushing touchdowns. Last spring, Schettler was one of the top sprinters in Class 4A – running an 11.54 100-meter dash before a hamstring injury hampered his season. There is no doubt his size and speed will keep even teams like Andale on their toes. 

Wellington will probably not use a full-back since “3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust” isn’t really an option. Henry should see a significant number of runs. Also keep your eye on Riley Nichols (5-10, 165, so.) who has had some eye-popping runs in the preseason. 

Wide receiver 

Again, Wellington has some options at this position. Montel Tate (6-3, 190, jr.) returns as a wide-out. Tate caught 13 passes last year for 304 yards and saw the end zone four times. Henry also had 13 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns. These two were Wellington’s top two receivers in 2020. 

But they aren’t alone. R.J. Clift (6-1, 150, sr.), Jack Wright (6-1, 150, jr.), Chase Koerner (5-8, 150, sr.) and Mehki Haskin-Ybarra (5-10, 160, jr.) could snag some balls. There will be plenty of target options for whoever is lining up behind the center to throw. 

As far as a tight end, Brody Weir (6-2, 190, fr.) could be the starter. 

Offensive line

OK. Now things get a little shaky. Wellington did not have a good off-season when it came to the offensive line. Kenny Fehrman, an all-state honorable mention lineman, graduated and is now playing at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo. Two other starters, who were thought to have been coming back, did not return for different reasons. That leaves just two returning starters. 

The two returnees, though, are good ones. Hagen Wright, (6-2, 270, sr.) will return as an offensive starter after making second-team All AV-CTL D4 in 2020. Trey Greenlee (5-11, 190, sr.) returns as the left guard. 

The other starters include Derrick Lowe (5-11, 195, so.) as a left tackle, Dalton Bishop (5-11, 225, jr.) at right guard, and a freshman named Couper Buchanan (5-11, 215) at right tackle. 

The offensive line has little depth. 

“An injury could be really devastating in this position,” Aguilar said. 

Defense 

While Wellington has speed and experience, the lack of depth could make for some tired boys on Friday night having to play both ways. 

“We are going to have to be creative in our substituting,” Aguilar said of the defense. 

The Crusaders bring back their top two defensive playmakers from 2020 in Schettler and Haskins-Ybarra. Seven of the 11 are returning starters. 

On the defensive line, look for established starters Wright and Bishop on the inside to be joined by Lowe and Buchanan. The outside linemen will consist of Greenlee, Dominic Ybarra (5-10, 190, sr.) and Weir. 

As far as the linebackers go, Nichols and Lira will be manning the “Mike” (middle) position. The “Will” (weak outside) position will consist of either Nichols, Jakob Lira (5-10, 160, sr.), or Jace Barton (6-0, 170, sr.). The outside Sam (strong side) linebackers will consist of Schettler, Rogers or Kenny Redford (5-10, 160, so.)

The defensive secondary is set with Haskins-Ybarra and Henry as safeties. Sam Wylie (145, so.) and Grady Norris (5-10, 140, fr.) will see playing time in the secondary.

Kicking game

Wellington has good news in that junior Wright returns as a field goal kicker. He boomed a 30-yarder in the Saturday scrimmage a week ago. 

The intangibles: 

•With 47 players out for football, 24 of them are freshmen — more than 50 percent of the team. The good news is these freshmen were Patriot League Champions in 2020 as eighth-graders. The bad news is they are so, so young for high school football.

“There’s a learning curve to high school football,” Aguilar said. “These young men have to have time to develop.” 

Aguilar said at least four freshmen could see significant playing time on Friday night…

•Anyone who says an eighth-grade league championship is a precursor to league championships in high school, probably should not be taken seriously. So much can happen in four years. This year is a classic example of what can happen in just one year.

There are only seven seniors out in Wellington. Last year, as juniors, there were 16. The attrition is due to a myriad of things: getting in trouble with the law, scholastic ineligibility, moving out, or simply not going out for football. 

“We are very happy with the seven seniors we have out,” Aguilar said. “I just would like a few more of them.” …

•Wellington was 1-4 in the AV-CTL Div. IV in 2020 while going 2-2 elsewhere. In 2020, D4 was better than the bigger D3 schools. Andale won the Class 3A state championship and knocked out Wichita Collegiate and Clearwater in the playoffs on its way. Wellington was the only team that was knocked off in the first round in D4 losing to Ark City that went on to play for the Class 4A state championship. 

“We have seen success against teams like Labette County in southeast Kansas,” Aguilar said. “It is a lot harder to win in this league.” …

•In high school football, numbers are down everywhere – except in Andale and Buhler. Those two schools are the only teams that could field both a junior varsity and freshmen team. All the other schools will have one sub-varsity team playing on Monday…

•There is one coaching change on the football staff. Conner Burnett replaces Zach Cooper. 

The roster: 

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