Wellington‘s Marc Ramirez stretches for a third quarter touchdown against McCamey during a Class 2A Division II state semifinal Friday night at Lubbock-Cooper. [John Moore/ Press Pass Sports]
It took an 18-point deficit, but the Wellington Skyrockets fuse eventually lit coming back to defeat McCamey 46-26 in a Class 2A Division II state quarterfinal on Friday night at Lubbock-Cooper.
Wellington opened the game with immediate urgency, falling behind 18-0. The Skyrockets biggest deficit of the year.
While wondering what was going on, the Badgers jumped on Wellington quickly on the opening drive with a Ivan Rubio 34 yard touchdown pass to Caden Johnson.
After a Noah Torres TD made it 12-0 on the next drive, the Skyrockets looked to be driving to cut the lead. But running back Marc Ramirez was popped at the 5-yard line as the ball flew right into the hands of Nano Rodriguez who took it back 95 yards giving McCamey the 18-0 lead with 1:56 left in the first.
“We talk all the time about turning the page.” Wellington head coach Greg Proffitt said. “We knew we had to just keep playing and reacting to adversity throughout the game. “I knew if we could just get some stops, and hold on to the ball, we would be right back in this game.”
Turn the page they did as Wellington never quit, never felt intimidated, going on to score 46 unanswered points over the next three quarters to grab the dramatic victory.
The Skyrockets chipped away in the first half thanks to a Creighton Killian QB keeper, followed by a Killian 62 yard touchdown bomb to Jordan Nation, and just like that it was 18-16 McCamey at half.
The second half was straight domination as Wellington cleaned up the mistakes and did what they did best. Behind their powerful offensive line, Ramirez and Mason Folk were able to wear down the Badgers as the points just kept on coming.
“We rely heavily on our offensive line,” Proffitt said. “McCamey has some great athletes and our core upfront did wonders containing them on both sides of the ball.”
Ramirez’s stellar season continues leading the Skyrockets with 256 yards on 35 carries. Folk added 92 yards on 16 carries.
Ramirez and Folk’s effort was part of 394 rushing yards on 64 attempts for Wellington.
The defense also did its part turning over McCamey (11-2) four times on downs, as well as forcing two big turnovers.
“Our defense is solid,” Ramirez said. “We want to continue improving over the next two weeks and get better.”
The Skyrockets remain unbeaten at 13-0, securing their first Class 2A Division II state semifinal appearance since 2017, and the first under Proffitt.
”It’s almost unbelievable,” Proffitt said. “I’ve been blessed to win state titles before, but I’ve never been this far as a head coach. It’s a blessing to be apart of Wellington right now.”
Wellington will play Windthorst in the state semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at Leo Brittain Field Lions Stadium in Vernon.
Wellington 46, McCamey 26
Wellington 0 16 22 8 — 46
McCamey 18 0 0 8 — 26
M— Caden Johnson 34 pass from Ivan Rubio (run failed), 10:23.
M— Noah Torres 11 run (pass failed), 6:59.
M— Nano Rodriguez 95 fumble return (pass failed), 1:56.
Second Quarter
W— Creighton Killian 1 run (Marc Ramirez run), 2:08.
W— Jordan Nation 62 pass from Creighton Killian, (Marc Ramirez run), 0:36
Third Quarter
W— Marc Ramirez 12 run (run failed), 7:53.
W— Mason Folk 30 run (Marc Ramirez run), 4:03.
Fourth Quarter
W— Marc Ramirez 18 run (Mason Folk run), 9:56.
W— Marc Ramirez 21 run (John Ramirez run), 7:16.
M— Brayden Fuentes 22 pass from Ivan Rubio (Nano Rodriguez pass from Rubio), 1:40.
Wellington McCamey
First Downs 21 12
Total Yards 461 280
Rushes-Yards 64-394 23-163
Passing 67 117
Comp-Att-Int 2-2-0 6-23-1
Fumbles-Lost 3-3 2-0
Punts-Avg 1-33.0 2-33.5
Pen-Yards 5-42 3-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing— Wellington: Marc Ramirez 35-256, Mason Folk 16-92, John Ramirez 3-34, Nixon Folk 1-6, Kaden Valles 1-3, Jayden Castillo 4-0, Creighton Killian 4-(-2). McCamey: Ivan Rubio 13-90, Noah Torres 4-48, Matthew Rosas 3-15, Caden Jonshon 2-10, Nano Rodriguez 1-0.
Passing— Wellington: Creighton Killian 2-2-0— 67. McCamey: Ivan Rubio 6-23-1—117.
Receiving— Wellington: Jordan Nation 1-62, Mason Folk 1-5. McCamey: Caden Johnson 3-66, Brayden Fuentes 2-38, Matthew Rosas 1-13.
