by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — It is safe to say the Wellington Crusader football season has been altered when the starting quarterback Cade Phelps tore his ACL in Friday night’s game.

Blame this on artificial turf, that looks pretty and swanky, but has torn up more than a fair share number of knees in all levels of football. Phelps incurred his injury when he was on a roll out midway through the second quarter, got his foot caught in the rug and twisted his knee. His season is over as will his basketball and possibly his baseball season. A terrible blow for an outstandingly talented Wellington senior.

Wellington now goes with Michael Ledbetter, a junior, who in his limited varsity experience pieced together a pretty good second half against Winfield.

“It will be interesting,” said Zane Aguilar, Wellington head coach at Monday’s Crusader Club meeting. “Michael is such a happy kid and willing to learn. Still, he has a lot to learn and we will be working with him extensively this week.”

Wow. What a game to start your varsity career. Mulvane again comes into town ultimately affecting Wellington’s post-season fate.

The Crusaders have now lost to Mulvane nine straight times. It’s a streak that just sits there and festers on itself. And most of the time, the games are season-defining moments. Mulvane has killed off Wellington’s playoff chances more than any other team.

And to make matters worse for Wellington, Jayden Price is back under center. Price is Mulvane’s everything quarterback/cornerback who has committed to North Dakota State as a cornerback. He is a 6-0, 172 pounder with a 4.58 40 yard dash. He can transform a game.

He got injured with a high ankle sprain and missed both the Maize South and Conway Springs games. The Wildcats subsequently lost by a combined 86-19 score. Throw out those two games, and Mulvane is a 4-1 having beaten Collegiate 35-19 and Ulysses 40-14.

Against Ulysses, Price was a 5 of 10 passing for 180 yards and rushed for 101 yards – to garner 281 total yards of offense. It is impossible to know whether Mulvane was holding Price back because he was coming off an injury. Cole Diffenbaugh, Mulvane’s tailback, accumulated 183 yards on 12 carries.

Mulvane would open up a 33-7 halftime lead on Ulysses and coast to a 40-14 win.

So there is no doubt Mulvane is tough, and will be the favorite going into tomorrow’s homecoming game.

The Crusaders will once again be depending on its defense which held Winfield to 20 yards rushing and 135 yards passing with most of those yards coming on that 79 yard first quarter touchdown pass.

People, who watched that game, would admit that Wellington probably should have won that game more than it did.

One positive was even without Phelps in the second half, there was not a tremendous drop-off in performance. The Crusaders still dominated the line of scrimmage thanks to its senior-laden line. Some of Winfield’s biggest offensive plays in the second half came courtesy of yellow hankies by officials. While Wellington has not had many turnover issues this season, the penalties continue to rack up. Wellington was penalized for 80 yards last Friday.

Wellington is currently 1-0 and has a plus-7 point margin. A win tomorrow night could or should wrap up a playoff berth for the Crusaders for the first time since 2010. That would be a big accomplishment since the format is changing next year.

But Mulvane has had that habit of making Wellington’s life miserable. The Wildcats destroyed the Crusaders 48-7 in 2016, after two consecutive years of winning very close contests in which it was more the Crusaders shooting themselves in the feet more than the Wildcats winning the game.

A win on Friday would make everyone forget all that and make homecoming weekend all that sweeter.

Wellington–Mulvane game at a glance:

Mulvane (4-3) at Wellington (4-3), Friday at 7 p.m.

Follow the game: Internet: Live twitter blogs on this site, Sumner Newscow. Twitter: Follow our live tweets at Cueballnewscow. Radio: Ryan Jenkins and Jamie Cornejo, play-by-play, KLEY, 1130-AM and 100.3-FM. Television: Sumner Cable TV, Channel 5 (audio). Photos and recaps: wellington.cc and Sumner Newscow.

Game night weather: The wind could be blowing, but predictions of thunderstorms won’t occur until after the game.

Series history:

Mulvane — Wellington leads series 27-12

1973 – Wellington 14 Mulvane 7

1974 – Wellington 17 Mulvane 10 (OT)

1975 – Wellington 34 Mulvane 7

1976 – Wellington 13 Mulvane 7

1977 – Wellington 30 Mulvane 6

1980 – Wellington 42 Mulvane 7

1981 – Wellington 21 Mulvane 7

1982 – Wellington 37 Mulvane 6

1983 – Wellington 13 Mulvane 17

1984 – Wellington 0 Mulvane 6

1985 – Wellington 7 Mulvane 12

1986 – Wellington 16 Mulvane 15

1987 – Wellington 28 Mulvane 6

1988 – Wellington 30 Mulvane 14

1989 – Wellington 26 Mulvane 20 (5 OT).

1990 – Wellington 42 Mulvane 6

1991 – Wellington 52 Mulvane 15

1994 – Wellington 42 Mulvane 8

1995 – Wellington 24 Mulvane 7

1996 – Wellington 28 Mulvane 9

1997 – Wellington 39 Mulvane 28

1998 – Wellington 27 Mulvane 13

1999 – Wellington 48 Mulvane 6

2000 – Wellington 45 Mulvane 0

2001 – Wellington 31 Mulvane 13

2002 – Wellington 19 Mulvane 21

2003 – Wellington 41 Mulvane 8

2004 – Wellington 34 Mulvane 0

2005 – Wellington 28 Mulvane 13

2006 – Wellington 17 Mulvane 21

2007 – Wellington 6 Mulvane 33

2010 – Wellington 35 Mulvane 49

2011- Wellington 30 Mulvane 35

2012 – Wellington 7 Mulvane 33

2013 – Wellington 14 Mulvane 30

2014 – Wellington 7 Mulvane 14

2015 – Wellington 30 Mulvane 42

2016 – Wellington 7 Mulvane 48.

Game’s significance: The district championship is on the line. Beat Mulvane here, and unless there are major tiebreakers to work with, Wellington is in the playoffs. Lose here and it will come down a battle against Ulysses.

Injury situation: Phelps is out, Grey Hatfield is suffering a concussion and may not play Friday. Caleb Reichenberger could be back from a broken finger injury. Wellington is banged up.

•••••

Ins and Outs: The coaching tree with Wellington High School is long and extensive. Taylor Zeka, the son of Robert and Pat Zeka, will be an assistant for the Mulvane team.

Competing schedules:

WELLINGTON
Varsity Football (all games 7 p.m.)
Wellington 34 Clearwater 6.
Wellington 21 El Dorado 0
Wellington 27 Rose Hill 13
Wellington 0 Andale 38
Wellington 13 Collegiate 27
Wellington 6 Scott City 28
Wellington 14 Winfield 7
Friday, Oct. 20	Mulvane	home
Friday, Oct. 27	Ulysses	home

Mulvane (4-3)

Mulvane 33 El Dorado 0

Mulvane 42 Rose Hill 38

Andale 48 Mulvane 20

Mulvane 35 Wichita Collegiate 19

Maize South 42 Mulvane 6

Conway Springs 55 Mulvane 13

Mulvane 40 Ulysses 14.

District standings:

Class 4A-1 District 5	District	Overall	Points
Mulvane	1–0	4–3	21
Wellington	1–0	4–3	7
Winfield	0–1	2–5	-7
Ulysses	0–1	0–7	-21

The roster:

				WELLINGTON CRUSADERS 2017
	NAME	GRADE			NAME	GRADE
1	Deyton Araujo	12	195	33	Trayson Probst	11	165
2	Caleb Reichenberger	11	170	34	Isaac Hilt	10	180
3	DE’Andre Washington	11	150	40	Karsten Gill	10	145
4	Cade Phelps	12	190	50	Braden Struble	11	180
5	Joe Ybarra	11	170	51	Reese Elkins	9	180
6	Blake Rausch	10	145	52	Kanden Young	10	165
7	Silas Popplewell	10	195	54	Gabe Smith	12	250
8	Billy Walker	10	140	55	Matt McComb	12	230
10	Berkeley Wright	9	185	56	Travese Love	10	195
11	Christian Buckman	10	130	57	Kenny Fehrman	9	220
13	Grey Hatfield	11	185	59	Betrai Taylor	9	180
15	Zander Vargas	10	145	60	Peyton Smith	9	175
16	Michael Ledbetter	11	170	61	Cody Metz	11	250
18	Chilson Ybarra	9	160	63	Ian Groom	12	210
20	Malachi Macias	10	140	65	Conor Thompson	9	140
21	Tayshaun Washington	10	135	66	Cameron Gardner	10	200
22	Julian Jimenez	11	150	68	Logan Jones	12	205
23	Austin Harriger	10	125	69	Jack Walton	12	225
24	Trace Rusk	9	150	70	Aaron Schoemann	12	215
25	Colin Green	9	125	71	Braiden Buresh	12	225
26	Kannon Klein	9	125	72	Layton Corley	11	185
27	Trenton Bannister	9	130	77	Tyler Jimenez	11	260
30	Davontr’e Parker	9	145	80	Gage Cunningham	10	185
32	Hunter Greenlee	10	205	84	Chi Barton	11	170
				87	Zane Cornejo	10	185

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