H.S. Football: Wesley Sanders steps in at QB and helps Columbia to 4-0 start

COLUMBIA TWP. — In a chaotic game plagued by injuries, Columbia was able to lean on its offensive line and ground game to secure a dominant 35-6 win over Wellington in a Lorain County League opener.Columbia (4-0, 1-0 LCL) lost starting quarterback Logan Menge on the third play of the game, while Wellington (1-3, 0-1) lost fullback Cade Spangenberg and starting quarterback Gaven Wacker.Sophomore middle linebacker Wesley Sanders moved to quarterback and, after a rocky start, the Raiders were able to grab the victory."I'm proud of the way (the players) composed themselves tonight," Columbia coach Mike Rice said. "There were a lot of curveballs in this game. Even with what looked like a pretty serious injury on Wellington's side, and that affected some of our guys as well just seeing that. But I'm impressed with the composure they showed staying the course. Our coaches help with that, but they have to go out there and do it, so I'm proud of them for that."Spangenberg left the field on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital with an ankle injury. Wellington coach Rob Howells said Spangenberg would likely undergo surgery in the morning.After Menge trotted off the field with an injured shoulder on the opening drive, Columbia continued the drive under Sanders, but on a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line, the Dukes defense came up with a big stop.Reeling only briefly, the Raiders defense quickly forced a turnover of its own, as Spangenberg fumbled and lineman Samuel Andrews fell on the ball to give Columbia possession on Wellington's 12.The Raiders wasted no time, and just two plays later Andrew Sorenson found the edge on a pitch for 11 yards and the first touchdown of the game.The Columbia defense did not let up on the next drive either, immediately forcing another turnover and putting the Raiders back on the board as Sanders intercepted a pass from Wacker and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown."I was feeling a little nervous, but then I rallied with my guys, you know," Sanders said. "They comforted me, they said let's go get it. We came back on defense, stopped them, and then we just worked our magic on offense."Rice said he was impressed, but not surprised, with how Sanders responded to being thrust into the game's spotlight."That all starts weeks ago," Rice said. "He is prepared as a starter and that is a credit to him, he takes his reps seriously when he gets them. And he is a gamer. We have known that about him, he's shown that since middle school. And he's a starting middle linebacker so he had that game experience to lean on."With a lead established, Columbia easily controlled the rest of the game, keeping the ball on the ground and mostly in the hands of running back Xavier Hendon, who carried the ball 16 times for 101 yards and a score."I can't thank my guys enough," Sanders said. "This squad, we were doubted, we were underdogs, people thought since we lost our seniors we were going to be terrible. Obviously we're not, we're 4-0. This right now is a statement to the rest of the LC8, like we don't play. We're ready."The line, they did a great job helping me. Props to the Wellington (defensive) line, they were aggressive, and we played a great game against them. We made it work."Jose Rivera provided a special change of pace to Hendon's downhill running, as he found the edge to score on touchdowns of 2 and 10 yards on his way to 47 yards on just six touches.For the Dukes, it was slow going on offense even before the loss of Wacker and Spangenberg.The injuries placed the entire burden of the offense on the shoulders of running back Trey Moore, who took the snaps after Wacker entered concussion protocol.Moore struggled to find room on the ground, rushing 10 times for just 14 yards as Wellington could not find any success in the second half.But when Columbia fumbled while up 35-0 late in the fourth quarter, Moore and the Dukes got one last shot to get on the board.Moore seemed to find his range, as he completed his final three passes after starting the night 0-for-3.The final toss was a heave down the field as the the clock ticked down, but a Columbia defender overplayed the pass and it found its way into the hands of Connor Kinser for the first time all night.Kinser turned on the jets and found his way into the end zone for a 48-yard touchdown on the final play.Howells said he was happy his team was able to leave on a high note after a chaotic and taxing game."It's what we do, we are one of the smallest teams in this conference, outmanned, undersized and we had some serious injuries tonight to some serious contributors that we rely on," Howells said. "For the guys to keep fighting and battling and being tough is huge. That's the brand of football that we preach and I'm glad that it was on display."Wellington will look to get healthy and get back on track next week at home against Clearview.Columbia meanwhile will look to continue its undefeated season as the Raiders go back on the road to face Black River."It starts with our seniors, Jose Rivera, Carter Duley, Andrew Sorenson come to mind, these guys are leading the charge as far as composure," Rice said. "It was a little scrappy in there tonight, and those guys were the ones that were keeping everybody calm and focused on the task at hand. So I'm proud of those guys and it sets a tone. We've gotta keep improving and we'll see what happens with Logan, but it's next man up and hopefully we'll have Logan right back."