The El Dorado Wildcats will head out on the road to challenge the Wellington Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: El Dorado has struggled recently with 16 losses in a row, while Wellington will arrive with five straight victories.
El Dorado is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Abilene on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. El Dorado was outmatched by Abilene at home and fell 38-7.
Despite the defeat, El Dorado saw an underclassman step up: Beau Hall rushed for 158 yards while picking up 7.2 yards per carry. Those 158 rushing yards gave Hall a new career-high.
Meanwhile, Wellington was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Rose Hill 54-13 on the road. The result was nothing new for the Crusaders, who have now won four matches by 21 points or more so far this season.
Wellington got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Dusty Bannister out in front who threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.8 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 43 yards. Another rusher making a difference was Jalik Armstrong, who gained 158 total yards and two touchdowns.
Wellington didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Tristan Tencleve, Cooper Hatfield, and Axl Norris picked up one apiece. Colton Bannister was another major factor on D, picking up 0.5 sacks and making 13 total tackles (5.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Wellington was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 211 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in five consecutive contests.
El Dorado's loss dropped their record down to 0-7. As for Wellington, they pushed their record up to 5-2 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road.
El Dorado was dealt a bruising 53-14 defeat at the hands of Wellington in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Wellington's Nick Giefer, who rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns on only five carries. Now that El Dorado knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
