Dustyn Schettler gets a big hole to run through late in the second quarter. (Photos by Eric Rinehart).

We couldn’t resist using this same picture with a close-up of Schettler.

y Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Wellington saw its two-game winning streak snapped when El Dorado came to town and beat the Crusaders 46-25 in a wild shootout on homecoming night.

Wellington held El Dorado to no passing yards. But rushing-wise, it was a nightmare. The Wildcats accumulated 434 yards and one running back in particular, Jaydon Sundgren, ran for 284 yards – an El Dorado school record.

The score indicated this game was more lopsided than it was. At the 4:47 mark of the fourth quarter, it was 30-25 and Wellington’s defense had stopped El Dorado and put it in a 4th-and-1 situation at its own 36.

Punt, right? El Dorado instead lined up and went for it even after showing it was going for it before a Wellington timeout.

Wellington was looking for a Sundgren dive. Why not? He has already accumulated more than 250 yards. Instead there was a fake hand off to Lundgren. As the defense closed in, quarterback Gannon White then pitched the ball out to wideout Drew Veatch, who rounded the corner and took off for paydirt.

The flat-footed Crusaders didn’t know what hit them. El Dorado scored a 67-yard touchdown and turned the game into a 38-25 ball game. After stopping Wellington on fourth down on the next drive in its territory, the Wildcats would tack on another touchdown and would pick up a 19-point victory.

So much about this game could have turned out differently for Wellington. The Crusaders coughed up the ball twice. El Dorado didn’t. The Crusaders were assessed 70 yards in penalties. Offsides on defense and false starts on offense have become a troubling trend.

And now Wellington gets Buhler at home next week. The Maroon Crusaders just beat No. 3 McPherson 42-30.

“We can’t afford to make any more mistakes,” said an exasperated Wellington head coach Zane Aguilar. “We are not talented enough to overcome the mistakes we are making.”

Wellington knew El Dorado’s plan going in. The Wildcats were going to run, and never pass. In fact, El Dorado threw just twice all night – both incompletions.

The Wildcats kept it on the ground and would accumulate 434 yards. Sundgren, a 5-10 senior, was the workhorse getting 38 carries for a 7.47 yard average. The Crusader defense was at a loss on how to stop him.

This game was a shootout. Wellington scored first on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Malachi Rogers to Brody Weir. The PAT made it 7-0.

The Crusaders had a real chance of establishing a lead early when the defense stopped El Dorado on 3-and-out. On the next possession, Wellington drove to the El Dorado 40, but a Rogers and Dustyn Schettler incompletion on a fourth down turned what probably was a certain touchdown pass into a turnover on downs.

Then Sundgren started finding the holes. El Dorado quickly scored and then went for two to take an 8-7 lead. The Wildcats never kicked a PAT all night and was 5-of-6 on two-point conversions.

The Crusaders then regained the lead on a 38-yard touchdown run by Rogers. They went for two and got it. It was 15-8 Dukes.

El Dorado then fed the ball to Sundgren and he took off on five consecutive runs for a touchdown to make it 16-15.

Wellington then committed its first of two turnovers at its own 35. Two plays later, Sundgren scored from the 27 to give El Dorado a nine-point lead.

Jack Wright (No. 4) walks off confidently after hitting a 32-yard field goal.

The Crusaders appeared to cut the margin to three on a lengthy Dustyn Schettler touchdown run. That was negated for an illegal formation penalty. Wellington settled for a field goal. But it was a good one as Jack Wright hit a 32-yard field goal – the longest in years for Wellington.

It was 24-18, El Dorado, at the half.

The third quarter saw a promising Wellington drive die on another fumble inside the 10. The Crusaders did respond with a 3-and-out and then Rogers scored on a 37-yard touchdown run.

The Crusaders could not score thereafter but were winning the field position game. An excellent punt by Rogers pinned El Dorado inside the 3. But that wasn’t an issue as El Dorado used Sundgren to get to the 34. That eventually set up a fourth-and-1 and the play of the game.

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