SOLON — After losses to Mount Vernon and Williamsburg the varsity Spartans needed a win, and found it at home Friday, Sept. 16 against Assumption Catholic (Davenport) on Armed Forces Night. Solon shelled the Knights 35-10 to improve to 2-2 on the season.
Blake Timmons put the Spartans on the scoreboard midway through the first quarter as he scored on a one-yard keeper. Grant Knipper booted the first of five point after kicks for a 7-0 lead. Coach Lucas Stanton was happy with what he saw early on saying, “I really liked our opening drive and how we established ourselves. We started to see a lot of what we have been working on the last couple of weeks come through. Some of that was just trying to get our edge back.”
Brett White took a Timmons pass 31 yards for a score with 2:37 left in the first half. Knipper’s kick made it 14-0, but the Knights scored just before halftime making it 14-7. However Solon put together a fast drive ending in Timmons connecting with Oaken Foster for a 17-yard touchdown pass with less than nine seconds left on the clock. Knipper’s kick made it 21-7 at halftime.
Mac McCarty extended the lead late in the third quarter as Solon went up 28-7.
The Knights settled for a field goal with 7:11 left in the ballgame making it 28-10.
Timmons nearly scored late in the period on a 51-yard keeper. Instead the Spartans scored on a two-yard scamper by White.
Timmons completed nine of 12 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown. Buffington took four passes for 60 yards, Foster had four receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown, and White caught one pass for seven. White was the leading rusher with 22 carries for 147 yards and two scores, Timmons kept the ball a dozen times for 91 yards and a score, McCarty had four carries for 17 yards and a touchdown, Barret Schade made two carries for two yards, and Zach Capper had one carry for -1 yards.
Quinton Heineman led defensively with six solo tackles. Ben Kampman and White made five apiece with a pair of sacks for Kampman, and one for White. Rhyse Wear had four solo tackles, David Karam and Austin Bell made two apiece while Landon Shive, Capper, Gavin Sieverding, Austin Knight, Brayden Moore, Zeb Kleinsmith, Ryan Walsh, Adam Smith, and Aidan Doyle had one apiece.
Asked if he thought things were starting to click for the Spartans, Coach Stanton said, “I do. I think we’re improving every week, which has been a great focus of ours during our two game skid.
Brett, Blake, Mac, and Oaken all had great games that obviously will pop on that stat sheet, but they will also tell you that it’s really because of our O-line, and our refocus these last two weeks about establishing our running game.”
The Spartans are still a young team, he noted, but they’re starting to come into their own.
“It was far from perfect but we really did like what we saw out of that group. They set the tone for the game, and that was the challenge all week for them.” Stanton also acknowledged the often unsung heroes who sharpen the Spartans’ edge every week. “I want to give a shout out to our scout team for the last two weeks. We have challenged that group to pick up the intensity at practice and push our guys as much as possible, and they have. All those guys have taken pride in competing and giving our team the best looks possible. We need to continue to get the best out of that group.”
It’s all about continuous improvement as Solon moves into Class 3A District 5 competition starting with a Friday, Sept. 23 visit to West Burlington-Notre Dame.
“We will continue to focus on everyone improving daily and weekly. That is really what we need to do, as much as that sounds like ‘coach speak.’ We have a young group overall and the more that we can get them to mature, develop, and improve, we will be where we want to be. West Burlington-Notre Dame has two really good athletes at running back and quarterback, so our defense will really need to focus on taking good angles and not letting them make the first guy miss. When they get in the open field, they are pretty dangerous.”
The Falcons are 1-3 on the season with losses to Mid-Prairie (28-18), Fort Madison (17-6), and Mediapolis (40-12) before winning 30-20 against Mount Pleasant.
Quarterback Blake Timmons fakes a hand-off to Brett White early in the first quarter against Assumption Catholic Friday, Sept. 16 at home. The Spartans snapped a two-game losing streak with a 35-10 win.