by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — For the first time in four years, the Wellington football team has the same coaching staff, the same offense, and a solid group of returning starters. These were things taken for granted on the Crusader gridiron in the Y2K years.

Will that be enough to spark a Wellington football turnaround? Who knows? But continuity sure doesn’t hurt.

Think about this for a second. Wellington has not had a winning season since 2009 and hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2010. The team has won seven games in three years. That would seem unfathomable to the Crusader football fan of even five years ago.

But the signs are there that things are looking up. For one thing, Wellington is solid at quarterback. Trevor Nance, a 6-5, 190 pound, junior, will be starting behind the center after starting for five games in 2012.

There is also a solid line. In fact, second year head coach Tyler Ryan said he has enough depth there that he can platoon and have just one player starting both offensively and defensively.

The competition also doesn’t look as rock solid as a year ago. Throw out teams like Andale and Wichita Collegiate and Wellington matches up well with the others. The prognosticators picked the Crusaders to finish either third or fourth in the league. More importantly, their district of Mulvane, Clearwater and Winfield is not impossibly tough.

Wellington, though, has some significant question marks. The skill positions are lacking in depth.

“We are either have great depth in skill positions and thin on the line, or vice versa,” Ryan said. “We can’t seem to get them both at the same time.”

Last year, Wellington had an abundance of speed – not so much this year. And actual game time experience is always a question mark as the season approaches.

“We just do not know what will happen when they turn on the lights on Friday night,” Ryan said. “A player can look good in practice, but then forget everything he knows when the game starts. There are a lot of questions out there that is still unanswered.”

Wellington will know soon enough when it travels to Goddard to open the 2013 campaign, just eight days (or nights) away.

•••••

 

Head coach: Tyler Ryan, second year. Ryan is a former head coach at Wichita Trinity. He is a Circle High School graduate.

 

WHS Record in 2012: 2-7. Wellington went 1-2 in district, beating Clearwater before losing to Mulvane and Winfield.

 

2013 District opponents: At Clearwater, Oct. 18; host Mulvane, Oct. 25; at Winfield, Oct. 31.

 

2013 AV-CTL DIV opponents: Augusta, Wichita Collegiate, Circle, Andale, Clearwater.

 

Returning starters: 

Offense –

Trevor Nance 6’5 190 Jr. QB HM – All League

Tyson Hodson 5’11 270 Sr. OL

Skylar Brand 5’11 215 Jr. OL

Colin Reichenberger 6’0 160 Jr. WR

Ben DeJarnett 5’10 170 Sr. OL

Austin Dunn 5’10 185 Jr. RB

 

Defense - 

Taylon Lamkin 5’10 195 Sr. DE

Adam Condit 5’11 210 Jr. DT

Colin Reichenberger 6’0 160 Jr. DB

 

No. of players: 68.  Seniors: 10, Juniors: 21, Sophomores: 20, Freshman: 17.

 

Wellington’s offense:  Ryan said he will continue to run the flex bone offense as it did in 2012. But could see some variations coming out of the offense.

“I still believe in the philosophy of running to set up the pass,” Ryan said. “But we most certainly will be throwing with Nance behind center.”

 

Wellington’s defense: Wellington will run a 4-3-5 or 4-4 defense. Ryan said he has thrown in a few more wrinkles in the defense and has spread it out more since more teams have the propensity of passing these days.

 

Potential Wellington starters:

 

OFFENSE: 

Nance returns as an honorable mention all-league quarterback. He started as a sophomore in week #5 against Circle which was Wellington’s first win of the year.

“I expect him at the end of the season to be one of our top quarterbacks in the Wichita area,” Ryan said. “He is getting better all the time.”

Nance and Ryan attended a quarterback camp in Oklahoma last summer, working on his mechanics.

“There are some things that Trevor is going to struggle with,” Ryan said. “But with the camp he attended last summer, he will have something to refer back on.”

 

Running backs: Austin Dunn (6-0, 200, jr.) will be the fullback. Connor Phelps (6-0, 180, so.) and Andrew Horn (5-7, 150, sr.) will probably start on the wings.

Look for Jaden Hines (5-7, 185, jr.) to rotate in and out of the lineup.

“We will be moving people around trying to get the right combination,” Ryan said. “Four or five people could be in the running mix.”

 

Wide receivers: Colin Reichenberger (6-0, 160, jr.) gives the Crusaders breaking speed as a wideout. But Ryan said outside him, Wellington is struggling to find other starters at that position.

“We’ll go with a committee approach until we find someone who will break out as an established starter,” Ryan said.

 

Tight end: Brenton Troutman (6-0, 170, jr.) and William Staley (5-11, 200, sr.) will play at tight ends.

“Staley is bigger, but Troutman is quicker,” Ryan said.

 

Center: Ben DeJarnett (5-11, 170, sr.) and Vincent Ast (6-0, 170, jr.) are vying for the starting job. Ryan said right now DeJarnett appears to be the starter against Goddard.

 

Guard: Taylan Lamkin (5-10, 195, sr.) and Skyler Brand (5-11, 210, jr.) will be the starters with Jason Norris (6-1, 260, so.) coming in regularly off the bench. “These guys have been real solid guys in practice,” Ryan said. “I’ve been impressed.”

 

Tackle: Tyson Hodson (5-11, 285, sr.) is a returning starter on the left side. Trey Coulter (6-1, 275, jr.) and Nick Hyde, (6-0, 220, so.) will rotate on the right side.

 

DEFENSE:

Interior defensive line: Dalton Holt (5-8, 225, sr.) and Adam Condit (6-0, 195, jr.) will be manning the interior line. This is the first time Holt has been back since his sophomore year after suffering a back injury his junior year.

 

Defensive line: Norris and Lamkin could be starting on both sides.

“I think you could pencil one of those two as being our only two-way starter at the moment,” Ryan said.

 

Inside linebacker: Hines, Andrew Pelkey (5-11, 160, jr.) and Dunn have the potential of being one of the two starters for game one.

 

Outside linebackers: Interior: Horn and Troutman are likely to start against Goddard.

“There will be a lot of people being rotated in and out of that spot,” Ryan said.

 

Cornerback: Ryan said he is taking the committee approach: Nance, Reichenberger, Dunn, and Austin Pfalzgraf (6-0, 160, jr.) all were mentioned as potential starters.

“We are looking at a lot of guys at that position,” Ryan said. “No one has just separated themselves from the pack quite yet.”

 

Safety: Phelps and Jared Shields (6-0, 150, so.) have the nod at starters at that position.

 

Field goal kicker: Reichenberger will start as the placekicker. It was a position of great frustration in 2012.

“We just didn’t get that foreign exchange student from Europe this year,” Ryan joked.

 

Punter: Nance, who was an all-league punter, will return as a starter.

 

Kick returners: Phelps and Reichenberger could start.

“We have been working on special teams this week,” Ryan said. “It’s a position we will continue to evaluate. We don’t have that one burner.”

 

Ryan’s view of the strength of the team: Depth up front.

“We have looked pretty decent in practice,” Ryan said. “I think it will really help that we have potential starters practicing against one another.”

 

Ryan’s view of the weakness of the team: Lack of depth and team speed.

 

The predictions… 

Preseason polls – AV-CTL IV 

Wichita Eagle	VYPE Magazine
1. Andale	1. Andale
2. Collegiate	2. Collegiate
3. Wellington	3. Clearwater
4. Clearwater	4. Wellington
5. Circle	5. Augusta
6. Augusta	6. Circle.

 

Wellington’s competition….

•Goddard, away, Sept. 6. Hopefully, the 2013 season won’t start out like 2012 in which Goddard scored on a long pass on the first play of year. Goddard would go on and finish 4-6, bowing out in the first round of Class 5A to Salina South. With 12 returning starters, including eight on defense, the Dukes have their work cut out for them.

•Concordia, home, Sept. 13. Wellington’s trip to Concordia was a beat down as the Panthers amassed 417 yards against the Crusaders in a 51-20 win. The prospects for a more competitive game in Wellington this year is a strong possibility. Concordia lost a lot of seniors. Wellington is deeper up front.

•Augusta, away, Sept. 20. Wellington lost its homecoming game to a team that hadn’t won in 11 games. It was the low point of the season for the Dukes. Wellington needs to win here and will serve as a benchmark of the progress of the Ryan regime.

•Collegiate, home, Sept. 27. Although Wellington lost in Collegiate in 2012, there was a spark in the Crusaders not seen before that season. Wellington just couldn’t keep hold of the football, turning the ball over five times in the game. Collegiate comes to Wellington. The Spartans will be heavily favored. Recruiting was good this spring.

•Circle, home, Oct. 4. The Thunderbirds have been the one program Wellington has seen success winning the past two seasons. This will be a great opportunity to see the Dukes get another win.

•Andale, away, Oct. 11. Whatever momentum the Dukes had the week before, came to a crashing halt against Andale. The Indians are ranked second in the Wichita Eagle Class 4A poll behind Holton. Andale has it going on.

•Clearwater, away, Oct 18. The Wellington coaches won’t say it, so we will. This is the key game of the season. Wellington opens district play against Clearwater. A win here gives Wellington some momentum for the final two games. Wellington’s victory over Clearwater in 2012 was the highlight game of the season.

•Mulvane, home, Oct. 25. Wellington hasn’t seen much success against Mulvane lately. Maybe this year. Mulvane lost 18 seniors from a team that reached the Class 4A semifinals. Trouble with that theory is, Mulvane has a tradition of winning at the moment. Don’t expect the program to fall off the precipice.

•Winfield, away, Oct. 31. Wellington has underachieved badly against Winfield the past two seasons for whatever reason. If things go right, Wellington could be vying for a playoff berth. A win here would be huge for the program.

 

The roster… 

 

9	Derek Driskell	9	5’3	115
9	Dylan Goodman	14	5’8	155
9	Chevy Nuss	22	5’8	120
9	Colton Glover	24	5’5	120
9	Chris Kop	25	6’0	180
9	Dylan Ferguson	42	5’10	155
9	Levi Preston	44	6’0	190
9	David Matlock	46	5’10	145
9	Seth Smith	48	5’8	160
9	Hunter Etter	51	5’7	150
9	Chance Wilson	53	5’5	150
9	Lucas Soria	62	5’7	140
9	Connor Burnett	58	6’2	300
9	Matthew Mason	81	5’7	115
9	Lane Morgan	84	6’0	160

9	Chase Hamel	86	5’7	120
9	Brad McBath	87	5’9	180
10	Sage Ferguson	3	5′ 5″	125
10	Connor Phelps	5	6′ 0″	180
10	Caden Rusk	8	5’6	140
10	Jared Shields	16	6′ 0″	150
10	Cameron Bartelson	30	5′ 11″	130
10	Remington Gilkey	31	5′ 10″	140
10	Bryce Oldridge	40	5′ 8″	130
10	Chandler Hain	50	5′ 9″	175
10	Nick Hyde	54	6′ 0″	220
10	Wyatt Witmer	60	5′ 8″	205
10	Josh Amos	61	6′ 1″	240
10	Brad Wiens	17	5′ 10″	135
10	Ethan Tunnell	63	5′ 10″	150
10	Jason Norris	65	6′ 1″	260
10	Grayson Dejarnett	56	5′ 9″	135
10	Michael Norris	63	6’1	190
10	Jace Lowe	75	5′ 9″	230
10	Migel Lujan	78	6′ 0″	300
10	Kaleb Hunt	80	6’2	175
10	Skyler Struble	88	5′ 11″	155
11	Trevor Nance	2	6′ 5″	200
11	Lane Beard	4	5′ 6″	145
11	Brenton Troutman	6	6′ 0″	170
11	Colin Reichenberger	10	6′ 0″	160
11	Jace Bruns	11	6′ 1″	165
11	Zach Bodkins	12	6′ 0″	160
11	Ian King	15	5′ 7″	145
11	Austin Pfalzgraf	18	6′ 0″	160
11	Andrew Pelkey	21	5′ 11″	160
11	Joey Haydon	23	5′ 10″	165
11	Austin Dunn	34	6’0	200
11	Jaden Hines	37	5′ 7″	185
11	Levi Beard	43	5′ 6″	150
11	Kyle Dall	57	5’10	220
11	Adam Condit	59	6′ 0″	195
11	Alejandro Vargas	64	5′ 11″	180
11	Aaron Fair	70	5′ 10″	190
11	Skylar Brand	71	5′ 11″	210
11	Vince Ast	74	6’0″	170
11	Trey Coulter	77	6′ 1″	275
11	Nick Franks	79	6′ 2″	180
12	Andrew Horn	1	5′ 7″	150
12	Gage Tunnell	7	5′ 11″	150
12	Chance Hain	19	5′ 10″	170
12	Alex Langford	41	6′ 0″	140
12	William Staley	45	5′ 11″	200
12	Ben Dejarnett	52	5′ 11″	170
12	Dalton Holt	55	5′ 8″	225
12	Mitchell Lowe	68	5″ 11″	245
12	Tyson Hodson	72	5′ 11″	285
12	Taylan Lamkin	73	5′ 10″	195