FAIRFIELD — Solon moved to the top of Class 3A District 5 with a 45-25 win over Fairfield Friday, October 7 on the Trojan’s field. The victory was the Spartans’ fourth in a row and moved them to 3-0 in district play. The teams entered the fray tied at 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the district.
The Trojans drew first blood scoring on a 17-yard pass in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. Brett White scored on a five-yard run, backed up with a Grant Knipper point after kick for a 7-7 tie. Mac McCarty scampered nine yards to score making it 13-7. Again Knipper’s kick sailed through the uprights for a 14-7 lead.
Knipper booted a 28-yard field goal in the second quarter to put Solon up 17-7, White ran 61 yards to make it 23-7, and another good PAT from Knipper made it 24-7. Blake Timmons scored on a keeper, dashing four yards for a touchdown and 30-7 advantage. Knipper’s kick made it 31-7 at halftime.
The Trojans regrouped and counter attacked in the third scoring on a ten-yard run to make it 31-13. Timmons responded with an 11-yard run to widen the gap again at 37-13. Knipper’s PAT kick made it 38-13. However, Fairfield wasn’t done and put another touchdown on the scoreboard with a ten-yard run to trail 38-19 going into the fourth quarter.
Timmons scurried 59 yards to score for a 44-19 lead while Knipper finished the night 6-6 making it 45-19. A 21-yard pass put Fairfield in the end zone one last time for the 45-25 final.
White lead the ground attack with 14 carries for 123 yards and two scores. Timmons made a dozen carries for 118 yards and three scores, Sean Stahle had three for 27, Eddie Johnson made five for 26, Jack McCarty made one carry for nine yards, Mac McCarty had two for seven with one score, Brayden Miller had two for three yards, Milo Ashbacker had one for two, and Brayden Ruskey attempted one carry for no yards.
Timmons completed nine of 13 passes for 83 yards, Ruskey completed one of three for six. Cole Buffington took two passes 47 yards, Oaken Foster caught five for 37, Oliver Owens took one pass six yards, Jack McCarty caught one for no yards, and Stahle took one pass but was taken backwards for a one-yard loss.
Brayden Moore led the defense with four solo tackles, David Karam, Ben Kampman, and Barret Schade made three each, while Knipper, White, and Quinton Heineman produced two apiece. Buffington, Jack McCarty, Brayden Hoffman, Zeb Kleinsmith, Aidan Doyle, Adam Smith, Stahle, Josh Henneberry, Rhyse Wear, Zach Capper, Mac McCarty, and Austin Knight each made one solo tackle. Dawson Fordice made a pair of quarterback sacks.
From Coach Lucas Stanton’s perspective, maybe chalk this one up under the heading of ‘A win is a win.’
“It wasn’t necessarily the prettiest win, but an ugly win is better than an ugly loss,” he said. “Fairfield is a good football team who does some nice things. We knew this coming into the game and that they would put up a good fight. I was proud of the boys and the way they responded to some adversity at the beginning of the game.”
Coach Stanton explained the Trojans came out in a defense the Spartans had not seen on film. And, Fairfield had more surprises for Solon in the form of offensive formations they hadn’t scouted either. Then, there were some self-inflicted wounds too.
“We throw an interception, give them great field position, and then give up a passing touchdown. I give Fairfield a lot of credit, but I would like to see our entire team handle the situation better on the road. However, that being said, I was very pleased with how once those series of events occurred, that we responded the right way; and that’s really what matters in that situation is how you respond to adversity even if self-inflicted.” The Spartans may have been a little “shell shocked” for a brief moment, “But our kids again showed class and toughness.”
Stanton added, “We were really pleased with how our run game operated and continues to improve. Defensively we thought we played pretty well with the exception of two drives, really, but it’s evident we still have work to do in our pass defense. We will get that fixed and get better.”
Upcoming games
Week Eight of the regular season finds Solon at home this Friday for Senior Night as the Grinnell Tigers visit. Freshmen will kick off at 5:00 p.m. with the varsity start scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The Tigers are 4-3 overall and also 3-0 in the district. It’s a game with postseason ramifications.
“We have a huge week this week with Grinnell coming to town,” said Stanton. “We are playing for a district title. This is also our Senior Night. Grinnell will present some challenges to us on both sides of the ball so we are looking forward to the opportunity. We want to make sure we send our seniors off the right way with their last regular season home game in Spartan Stadium.”
Solon closes out the regular season at Keokuk (2-5/0-3) Friday, October 21.
Class 3A playoffs begin Friday, October 28 with quarterfinals set for Friday, Nov. 4. Semifinals will be Saturday, Nov. 12 in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls with the 3A Championship Friday, Nov. 18 (UNI-Dome).
Class 3A District 5 Standings
Season District
Solon 5-2 3-0
Fairfield 4-3 2-1
Grinnell 4-3 3-0
Washington 3-4 1-2
Keokuk 2-5 0-3
W. Burlington 1-6 0-3
Sean Stahle (shown here against Washington) made three carries for 27 yards against Fairfield Friday, October 27.