by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow —  How do you know when the Wellington High School football team has accomplished a milestone?

When they are still playing football in Standard Time. This week the clocks moved back, and the football team headed west to practice at the Wellington Middle School football facilities because it had lights.

“It’s been awhile,” said Zane Aguilar, Wellington head football coach. “I honestly can’t remember the last time we had to go to the middle school.”

That’s not the only milestone Wellington is facing this weekend when it hosts Goddard Friday night in a sectional playoff game.

Let’s see, the Crusaders are playing their third playoff tournament game since 2004. They will be playing their seventh home game, period. Wellington is one of only seven of the 26 Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League teams still playing; that’s a span from Class 6A to 3A. The Crusaders are only one of two AV-CTL D-IV teams still playing (Andale is the other). And Wellington is getting all kinds of statewide love in the media.

“It’s been fun,” Aguilar said. “The team is fired up. They really had an exciting game last week and want to keep it going.”

But the further you advance, the harder the team. Playing the weak sisters are over. Goddard is going to be devastatingly good.

Like the Dukes, the Lions are 8-2, but most of those wins have come against larger sized opponents. Goddard is a member of the AV-CTL D-II.

“They play a similar game as us,” Aguilar said. “They have a really good defense and are fast and physical. Offensively, they are just as fast and we will have to contain their speed.”

Kyler Semrad is a 6-0, 175 pound sophomore quarterback and seems to be getting better by the minute. He has thrown for 1,754 yards and has 16 passing touchdowns in 2018. He had his first 200-yard game when he threw for 217 yards in a double overtime loss to Maize South. Since then he has accomplished 200-plus yards three more times. Last week, against Andover Central, he topped his person record with a 256 yard performance in a 21-7 victory.

“The key for us is to keep the Goddard offense off the field,” Aguilar said. “That means sustaining 10 to 12 play drives and punching it in.”

It is going to be a soggy one Friday night, and the temperatures will be plunging into the freezing levels. But this is November football. And it has been years since Wellington has played such a game.

Wellington-Goddard Sectional Playoff game at a glance:

Goddard (8-1) at Wellington (8-2), Friday at 7 p.m.

Follow the game: Internet: Live twitter blogs on this site, Sumner Newscow. Twitter: Follow us at Cueballnewscow. Radio: KLEY radio simulcast on Channel 5 on Sumner Cable. Photos and recaps: wellington.cc and Sumner Newscow.

Pricing: Since this is a playoff game, no passes are allowed. Adults will be charged $6 and students will be charged $5.

Game night weather: Now comes Wellington’s first real cold weather game. Temperatures are expected to be in the 30s and there is 25 percent of rain. Weather forecasters said it will be 55 percent at 6 p.m.

Series history: Goddard, like Buhler last week, was once an old Chisholm Trail League foe, and the two programs had some classic games. In the early 1990s, Goddard and Wellington battled for a playoff berth in Class 5A (boy that was awhiles back when Wellington was 5A). The Crusaders played the Lions up until 2002.

Wellington would play Goddard twice in a non-league contest in 2012 and 2013. The two teams split.

Game’s significance: Sectional playoff football. Wellington hasn’t been this far since 2004. Do you remember that game? First one to name Wellington opponents, the score and what happened at the end of the game that made it such a memorable ending will get a free Sumner Newscow T-shirt.

•••••

Competing schedules:

Wellington 32 Collegiate 0

Wellington 0 Andale 28

Wellington 47 Clearwater 26

Wellington 35 Augusta 14

Wellington 38 Rose Hill 7

Wellington 33 Labette County 26

Wellington 22 Winfield 7

Wellington 13 Mulvane 14

PO BRACKET: Wellington 38 Rose Hill 13

PO 1st ROUND: Wellington 14 Buhler 7

Goddard (8-2)

Goddard 32 Wichita East 8

Goddard 34 Arkansas City 0

Goddard 17 Andover Central 16 (OT)

Goddard 12 Goddard Eisenhower 3

Maize 27 Goddard 2

Goddard 40 Valley Center 27

Maize South 23 Goddard 22 (2OT)

Goddard 32 Andover 3

Goddard 46 Circle 6

Goddard 21 Andover Central 7

Class 4A Bracket can be here: http://kpreps.com/kansas/playoffs/2018/?class=4A

Ins and outs: Whether the Wellington football wins or loses on the football field this Friday, the Crusaders are winners in life. So is the case of Tab Creekmore, the sophomore quarterback for Mulvane. He broke his tibia and fibula on the first play of the opening round bracket game against Arkansas City. Since that point he has been in the hospital for 12 days due to also suffering from Compartment Syndrome. He went to surgery to not only realign the bones, but reattach the muscles.

Since his surgery, he has had some outpouring of support. But nothing as unexpected as coming from one of Mulvane’s biggest rivals, Wellington.

In an article in the Wichita Eagle, it states:

Wellington is one of Mulvane’s biggest rivals. The Wildcats beat the Crusaders 14-13 in the final week of the regular season, just seven days before Creekmore’s injury.

On Saturday, Wellington quarterback Michael Ledbetter drove 40 minutes north to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita to visit his rival, and he brought a gift.

The entire Wellington football team signed a poster with the simple message: “Get well soon — love, your Crusader football team.”

“It hit me,” he said. “It hit me really hard. It was awesome.”

Ledbetter met with Creekmore and his family for about 15 minutes, a small greeting that was a few days in the making. After Ledbetter learned about Creekmore’s injury, he got his phone number and started texting him.

Ledbetter said the walls of the rivalry soon broke down.

“He seemed like a really cool guy, and I just didn’t want Wellington-Mulvane to get in the way,” he said. “I wanted Tab to feel like a true friend.”

To read the full article click here.

Oh, and here is the tweet that got everyone’s attention:

Huge shoutout to @MikeAndIke29 and the Wellington football team for the thoughts and prayers pic.twitter.com/vZVfUoHP34

— Tab Creekmore (@tab_creekmore) November 3, 2018

Roster:

Click on roster for larger version.

Follow us on Facebook.

Follow us on Twitter.