WELLINGTON — At the heart of any small town in this country is its high school and their sports programs.
For over 60 years in Wellington — a town just off Interstate-25 sitting 20 miles from the Wyoming border — that was missing. Long gone were the days of Byron “Whizzer” White, whose dazzling displays on the gridiron put the town on the map in the 1930’s.A dwindling population forced the original high school to close in the early 1960 and kids that lived in Wellington made the trek south to Fort Collins to attend and play for Poudre.
But then four years ago came the news that voters passed a bond that would not only make improvements to a lot of schools in the Poudre School District, but would go to building two new high schools in the ever growing district. Both Wellington and Timnath were reintroduced this year with their original mascots, the Eagles and the Cubs.
On Friday night in what used to be a cornfield on the northwest side of town, the Wellington Eagles played their first homecoming game since 1963 in front of a growing town that has gone all out to embrace them.
“Eagle mania is all over Wellington. I’m seeing signs pop up and it is just really exciting to be able to have kids here in our community competing for Wellington,” Eagles athletic director Hilarie Bartling said. “We’ve got restaurants naming food after the Wellington Eagles and it’s really neat to see.”
What might be more impressive, especially with a football team that improved to 4-2 this season with a 44-8 win over Prospect Ridge on Friday night, is that they are doing it with just freshmen and sophomores.
“Because this is the beginning of a two year cycle, we felt like we had to come in at the varsity level,” Bartling said. “Because otherwise these tenth graders would not have been able to play varsity until their senior year and we felt like it would have been a disservice to them… and we are able to compete, so that is pretty exciting.”
The Class 2A Eagles are competing and you need look no further than to the man in charge, Travis Peeples. The former Frederick coach had recently purchased a home in Wellington and wanted nothing more than to put his unique stamp on a brand new program.
“The transition has been incredible and the town is hungry for football. I heard we had some tough kids and we certainly do,” said Peeples, whose team beat Timnath in Week 4 to win the Ag Cup. “And we have ninth and tenth graders who have bought into a system that we are selling them and right now is just the beginning.
“I’m super proud of what we have accomplished and we are 4-2, and I feel like we are a playoff level team even though a lot of people have counted us out already. We are going to take our shot each week and our ultimate goal would be to win a conference championship. I am really proud to be here to start something that is going to be exciting.”
And Peeples knew what he was getting himself into, taking over a brand new program that on Friday nights started 17 freshmen players.
“I told my wife I would have taken a 2-8 season if they would have offered it to me before the year and maybe leverage that,” he said. “That would have been selling the kids short, because look where we are now, we are at four wins and I think there is more on the table.
“So to say that the kids have surprised me is an understatement. They have a tremendous heart and will.”
And the Eagles, who Peeples jokingly thinks, “doesn’t have a kid that can bench 150 pounds,” are doing all of this without the benefit of a weight room. It is one of the aspects of the beautiful new facility that has yet to be completed.
The future is certainly bright for a team that is already getting a taste of success and they have the building blocks in place. Freshman quarterback Tanner Gray and sophomore utility back Cash Altschwager, as well as freshmen backs Caden Keller and Lincoln Dalton, give the Eagles a four-headed monster that can tote the rock in Peeples’ run-heavy offensive scheme.Sophomore Tanner Smith is another big body that has excelled on both sides of the ball.
Altschwager, who was just 13 yards shy of 1,000 all purpose yards going into last night’s homecoming game — where he was also a member of the homecoming court — had to have a little convincing to come to Wellington after his freshman year at Poudre. But he is more than happy he made the switch and knows his team is on the brink of something special over the next few seasons.
“I had a feeling in my stomach that it was going to be a better opportunity, and nothing against Poudre — I love all those guys — but it is hard to ignore a gut feeling,” Altschwager said. “We are taking it one game at a time here and (the success) really hasn’t hit me yet.
“We have a great coach and we have found a system that all of these athletes are finding a way to excel in and it’s working well.”
The Eagles will hit the toughest part of their 2A League schedule over the next three weeks at D’Evelyn, home against Platte Valley and then at Bennett.
“Let’s just go out and play ball,” Altschwager said. “The next few years are going to be fantastic. We have a great coach and a great team.”
