The Circle High School football team came to town October 14th boasting a 5-1 record with their only loss coming from McPherson.  They were undoubtedly expecting another win from the 3-3 Crusaders, but Wellington had other plans.

The theme for the Crusader offense was big plays in this one, and they started off with a bang with Malachi Rogers running for a 60-yard touchdown in the first 20 seconds of the game. Cope Henry would add two touchdown receptions of 89 yards and 34 yards, and Rogers rushed for another 48-yard touchdown. That makes four scores on plays totaling 231 yards! 

The Crusaders jumped out to an early 26-7 lead halfway through the second quarter before the Thunderbirds would score two quick touchdowns to make the score 26-21 going into halftime. After halftime, Circle scored in the first three minutes to take the lead. The Dukes answered back with two touchdowns of their own on two Kenny Redford keepers to make the score 38-27 going into the fourth quarter. Circle tried to come back again, scoring an early fourth-quarter touchdown and two-point conversion to make the score 38-35. The Crusader defense would hold Circle the rest of the quarter, though, and Malachi Rogers iced the game on his 48-yard run for his third touchdown of the night with 1:50 left to play. 

Despite giving up 323 total yards, the Crusader defense made the Thunderbirds offense work for their points, only allowing an average of 3.89 yards over 83 plays. The defense also created several turnover opportunities, forcing four fumbles and intercepting the ball three times. 

The Crusader offense as a whole was stellar the entire game, gaining 500 total yards, but running back Malachi Rogers, who ran for 276 yards and three touchdowns, and receiver Cope Henry, who caught four passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns, were definite standouts from the night. 

Wellington improves to 4-3 and next plays at Rose Hill this Friday, October 21. 

Stats:

                       Q1   Q2   Q3   Q4     F

Circle             07   14    06    08    35

Wellington    13   13    12     07   45

Passing:

#13 Kenny Redford 7/10 225 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 INT

Rushing:

#2 Malachi Rogers 24 att, 276 yards, 3 TDs

#13 Kenny Redford 12 att, -1 yards, 2 TD’s

Receiving:

#15 Cope Henry 4 rec, 201 yards, 2 TD’s

#23 Grady Norris 1 rec, 15 yards

#5 Brody Weir 1 rec, 7 yards

#2 Malachi Rogers 1 rec, 2 yards

Kicking/PAT’s:

#4 Jack Wright 3/4 PAT’s

Punt Returns

N/A

Kick Returns

#23 Grady Norris 2 att, 24 yards

#10 Skyler Branam 1 att, 0 yards

#20 Riley Nichols 3 att, 9 yards

Punts:

#2 Malachi Rogers 2 att, 39 yards

#20 Riley Nichols 1 att, 19 yards

VARSITY FOOTBALL V. CIRCLE 101422

(Photos by Katie Ford/wellington.cc)

VARSITY FOOTBALL V. CIRCLE 101422

(Photos by Michaela Stufflebeam/WHS Crusader Yearbook & Melody Gallegos/WHS Digital Media Team)

SENIOR NIGHT CEREMONY 101422

(Photos by Katie Ford/wellington.cc & Melody Gallegos/WHS Digital Media Team)