by Tanner Ford, wellington.cc--It was all Crusaders all night on Friday as they took it to the Clearwater Indians.

The Crusaders excelled on both sides of the ball, with the offense totaling 351 total yards and the defense dominating with 7 turnovers en route to a 49-18 drubbing of the Clearwater Indians. 

The Iron Dukes kept the scoreboard operator busy in the first quarter scoring three touchdowns in a span of 39 seconds. Clearwater wouldn’t be left scoreless in the first quarter as they scored on a 33-yard pass. Wellington would answer and close out the quarter on a Milo Elder field goal to lead Clearwater 22-6. 

The most exciting play of the night came on Wellington’s first score of the second quarter when Malachi Rogers returned an interception 91 yards to the house to put the Crusaders up 28-6. The defense would hold the Indians scoreless in the second quarter and head into halftime 36-6 after a 14-yard touchdown pass from Dusty Bannister to Grady Norris. 

The only action to come in the third quarter would come on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Clearwater to make the score 36-12. In the fourth, the Crusaders would quickly score on Bannister’s second touchdown run of the night to go up 42-12. Wellington and Clearwater would each score touchdowns to end the game with an emphatic Crusader victory of 49-18. Quarterback Dusty Bannister and running back Malachi Rogers both had incredible nights with Bannister scoring five total touchdowns and Rogers amassing 142 total yards on offense with a touchdown and his big interception return for a touchdown. Cope Henry was all around the ball on defense, recovering a fumble and getting an interception. Fantastic effort all around from the Iron Dukes! 

The Wellington Crusaders improve to 1-1 as they look to take on the WIchita Collegiate Spartans for Homecoming on September 16th. 

Scoring:

                      Q1   Q2   Q3   Q4   F

Clearwater     6     0      6      6     18

Wellington    22    14    0     13    49

Stats:

Passing:

#12 Dusty Bannister: 13/23, 215 yards, 3 TD’s

Rushing:

#2 Malachi Rogers:  11 att., 94 yards

#12 Dusty Bannister: 13 att., 17 yards, 2 TD’s

#25 Nick Giefer: 4 att., 24 yards

#40 Cayson Ramirez: 1 att., 1 yard

#27 Jalik Armstrong: 1 att., 0 yards

Receiving:

#15 Cope Henry: 2 rec., 22 yards

#23 Grady Norris: 5 rec., 63 yards, 1 TD

#2 Malachi Rogers: 1 rec., 48 yards, 1 TD

#5 Brody Weir: 2 rec., 16 yards

#3 Montel Tate: 2 rec., 46 yards, 1 TD

Defense: 

#15 Cope Henry: Fumble Rec., 1 INT

#44 Parker Thornton: 1 INT, TD

#25 Nick Giefer: Fumble Rec.

#2 Malachi Rogers: 1 INT, TD

#10 Skyler Branam: 1 INT

#32 Milo Elder: Fumble Rec. 

PAT’s/FG’s

#32 Milo Elder: 2/6 PAT’s; 1 FG

Punting:

#2 Malachi Rogers: 2 for 42 yards

#20 Riley Nichols: 3 for 77 yards

Punt Returns:

#10 Skyler Branam: 5 yards

Kick Returns:

#44 Parker Thornton: 1 for 6 yards

#33 Laykin Brown: 1 for 7 yards

#10 Skyler Branam: 1 for 5 yards

#27 Jalik Armstrong: 1 for 6 yards

PHOTOS PENDING