Wellington’s Colton Elmore has scored over 100 touchdowns – and he is only a 5th grader

November 27, 2020 Cueball

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — As the days get colder and the 2020 football season is becoming a memory, Colton Elmore can look back and say he has been part of 100 touchdowns in his career.

That’s quite an accomplishment for a high school player, who also probably had a big middle school career. After all, some high school teams are lucky to get 25 touchdowns in a season.

But Elmore is only a fifth-grader. And he has accumulated those 100 touchdowns in four years playing for his Wellington Youth Football team.

Colton Elmore being hugged by his dad after a victory.

Last month, Elmore was honored for scoring his 100th touchdown after a home game at Worden Park against the Westside Junior Eagles. Elmore had scored that 100th touchdown on a 26-yard quarterback keeper as the Wellington fifth grade romped to a 25-0 victory.

It was another day in the office for Elmore but what came afterward wasn’t. To the surprise of him and his parents Jaime and Justin Elmore, Colton was recognized with a signed football from all his teammates and coach, t-shirts, and signs touting his accomplishment during a presentation recognizing the 100 touchdown runs and passes.

“He plays both quarterback and linebacker and understands the game better than kids much older than him,” said his head coach Brandon Lambert. “Lonnie (Vargas) and I call him ‘Coach Colton’ behind his back. He knows what every position is responsible for every play and often reminds his teammates.”

Elmore actually started playing football as a kindergartener. But stats aren’t collected until he became a second-grader. Since that point, he has scored 105 touchdowns – including three more against Douglass the week after the ceremony.

Wellington 5th grade football team (Courtesy photo by Susan Doherty) (Click to enlarge).

And the team has flourished behind him as the center. The “Dukes” are 32-8 over the past four years. They have outscored opponents by 653 points (1,113-37) and 18 of those wins have come by way of shutout.

During his third grade year, Wellington had an undefeated regular season. The next year as fourth-graders, the Dukes won the “T-Bird Tackle Classic” Bowl Tournament at Circle High School in Towanda.

“Today was about Colton,” Lambert said about the ceremony after the Westside win. “But this really has been a special team over the years.”

Elmore is considered a selfless player, who tries to raise the level of play of his players around him.

“For instance, against Westside when one of our offensive linemen, Bently Blunk scored his first touchdown, it was Colton who got behind him and pushed him over the goal line,” Lambert said.

In the Westside game, Elmore’s 100th touchdown came two minutes and 24 seconds into the game. He added a second rushing touchdown on a 1-yard run in the second quarter and also threw a 26-yard pass to Jackson Curry for his third touchdown of the day resulting in the win.

The ceremony was held off the field. As has been the case almost every Saturday, Worden Park was packed with Wellington fans and out-of-towners.

Colton with his mom and dad.

Elmore probably epitomizes the Wellington Youth Football program as a whole. A year after losing all of its equipment to a spring flood at the storage facility at Rock Island, the youth organization is churning full-speed ahead and is flourishing.

In a league that includes at least 40 teams across the south-central Kansas region, Wellington is the only team with two fields. The second one opened this fall.

As a result, Worden Park has become the go-to destination for teams needing to get in games — which was huge during the pandemic year.

The bulk of youth football games being played at Worden were between two out-of-town teams. That’s great revenue for the local economy as moms, dads and the rest of the family undoubtedly need something to eat as well as maybe picking up some quick supplies from our local Walmart.

Elmore with coaches, from left, Zander Vargas, Brandon Lambert, Lonnie Vargas, Jace Rausch and Brad Brown.

Vargas is a huge part of the Wellington Youth Football success. He is not only president of the Wellington organization but is president of the Mid State Football League that includes teams from Lindsburg to Hutchinson to Wichita to Ark City. Vargas has been involved in youth football for years. He coached his son, Zander, through youth football. Zander graduated from Wellington this spring and is involved with the Nebraska Wesleyan University football program in Lincoln. On that Saturday when Elmore scored his 100th touchdown, he was helping his dad assist.

As for Colton, he is just part of the family. His brother, Trenton, was the starting quarterback for the undefeated Wellington seventh-grade team. His sister MiKayla is a junior on the high school dance team.