The Wellington High School football team hosted Boca Raton High School on Friday, Oct. 4 for homecoming and fell 17-10 to the Bobcats in a defensive battle. The Wolverines (2-5, 1-1) suffered the loss after winning back-to-back games against John I. Leonard and Forest Hill.
Wellington took an early 3-0 lead off a Morgan Suarez 32-yard field goal. Suarez has proven to be one of the Wolverines’ deadliest weapons on the gridiron, often striking between the sticks inside the 40-yard line. The advantage was short-lived. The Bobcats found the end zone to take a 7-3 lead midway through the first quarter. Boca Raton added a field goal later in the second quarter to extend the lead to 10-3, which closed out the first half. Wellington’s offense struggled for most of the first half.
Both teams played well defensively, making it difficult to move the rock. The Wolverines discovered some momentum, making the right plays to move the chains near the end of the third quarter. Running back Desean Butler drove in the game-tying score from three yards out that capped a 75-yard drive for Wellington to bring the score to 10-10 with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter.
The Wolverine defense forced a Boca Raton punt early in the fourth quarter that resulted in a would-be big 48-yard return to Boca’s 17-yard line, but a penalty nullified the gain. The foul placed Wellington in midfield.
Penalties infected the Wolverines on both sides of the ball, but offensively is where it posed the biggest impact. Twice Wellington would have moved the chains but were pushed back due to fouls. With less than three minutes to play in the game, the Bobcats put together a drive that resulted in a 29-yard touchdown pass to lift Boca to 17-10.
The Wolverines had under two minutes to orchestrate a drive to earn the equalizer. Wellington drove to midfield, as the clock counted down, only to throw a deep interception on second down.
The turnover forced the defense back on the field for a last effort to strip the ball, but the Boca offense ran out the remaining seconds.
The Wolverines enter district play again on Friday, Oct. 11, hosting Jupiter High School. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.
