SOLON — The Spartans have checked off a few goals so far this season: Beat Mount Vernon, check. Win the District Championship, check. Earn a trip to the UNI Dome in the Class 3A playoffs, check. Win the 3A State Championship, TBD.
Sparty’s Boys punched their ticket to the Dome with a 36-35 Quarterfinals win over West Delaware last Friday (Nov. 3) at home. The Hawks have been a recurring foe with Solon knocking them out of the playoffs in the quarterfinals in 2021 and in the first-round last year. This time Solon set the tone early as Tyler Bell connected with Nash Kotar on a 26-yard pass for a first and goal situation on their first possession. Conlan Poynton scampered one yard for the score, and Grant Knipper’s extra point kick made it 7-0 with 7:56 left in the first quarter. Bell found Eddie Johnson for a touchdown on the second possession. Knipper’s kick made it 14-0 with 4:46 left in the period.
The Hawks regrouped and quarterback Brent Yonkovic ran 26 yards on a keeper to cut Solon’s lead in half. Yonkovic struck again early in the second quarter to tie the game at 14 and gave the Hawks a 21-14 lead on a short carry with 4:07 left in the half.
Bell connected with Brett White on a 66-yard touchdown, with a Knipper PAT, to tie at 21 with 2:57 to go in the half. The Spartans closed out the first half with a 27-21 lead after Johnson scampered two yards into the endzone with 13 seconds remaining.
The Hawks equalized with a score early in the third quarter and went ahead again on another Yonkovic keeper after a controversial play. Austin Knight and a West Delaware player had gone up for a pass, which was a initially knocked away by Knight and then recovered by both with the ruling of a completion after protests from the Solon sidelines calling it an incomplete pass. A two-point play made it 35-27 for the Hawks with 4:40 left in the third. The quarter ended with Solon in possession on the Hawks’ 24-yard line.
West Delaware defense foiled efforts to score, but Knipper booted a 30-yard field goal making it 35-30 with 9:50 left to play. On the ensuing kick-off, the ball was stripped from a Hawk and recovered by Solon. Bell connected with White on fourth down and six for first and goal on the Hawks’ two-yard line. Poynton ran the ball in for a 36-25 lead. A two-point try failed with 6:45 left in the game.
“It wasn’t our best game defensively, by far, but some of that was due to West Delaware’s offense, for sure,” said Coach Lucas Stanton. “At this point it’s survive and advance. You don’t care how it happens, you just gotta keep moving on. It’s a quarterfinal game, the top-eight teams (in Class 3A), and everyone’s good; you’re gonna have games like that. I don’t feel we played our best but that makes me feel good that hey, we can correct those things and sharpen up, and get ready for some indoor football.”
Those two quick scores at the beginning gave Solon a boost, not just on the scoreboard, but in confidence as well. Then came the Hawk’s counteroffensive. “We kinda relaxed a little bit and they came and punched us right in the mouth, and it took us a while to get our bearings straight. But our kids are resilient, they’ve shown that all year, and just found a way (to win).” Stanton credited Knipper’s field goal and the late fumble recovery as “huge” factors in the win.
Bell completed 18-24 passes for 286 yards with White taking five 114 yards, Kotar taking five 68 yards, Knipper going 62 yards on five receptions, and Johnson taking three passes for 42 yards. Poynton made 20 carries for 43 yards with Johnson going 57 yards on ten carries.
White led defensively with ten tackles (eight solos and one sack), Kotar had six (five solos), Brayden Moore made 5-1/2 (four solos), Ben Kampman had five (four solos and two sacks), Barret Schade and Cole Farnsworth made 4-1/2 each (four solos each with two sacks for Kampman), and Gavin Sieverding made three (two solos). Kyler Jensen made two solo tackles; Keenan Kruse had 1-1/2 tackles as did Mason Scott (one solo). Jack McCarty, Johnson, and Marcus Richard had one tackle apiece with a solo for McCarty and Johnson (QB sack). Davin Walker, Trevor Myers, and Ryan Walsh were each credited with ½ tackle.
To the Dome, again
The Spartan football program is no stranger to the UNI Dome, having made multiple trips and pulling off three consecutive championships in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Solon’s last Dome appearance was in 2021 where they fell 42-0 to Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in the semifinals.
This Saturday they will face WaMaC West and fellow 3A District 5 foe Williamsburg at 7:00 p.m. in the semifinals. The Raiders finished No. 2 in the district behind Solon and fell 21-14 to the Spartans earlier this season.
“It’s (going to the Dome) something these kids were able to when they were sophomores, so a lot of these guys aren’t unfamiliar with it. It’s something that’s been a goal for them, and we don’t want to just go ‘one and done’ there, we want to play two games there and we fully expect to do that.”
Tickets for the 3A semifinals and State Championship are available online through UNI at https://unitix.uni.edu. Go to Tickets and Events and click on Events Calendar. Scroll down to IHSAA State Football Semi Final – Class 2A & 3A.
For details on tickets, parking, important information for spectators, and how to watch from home go to www.iahsaa.org/football/state-playoffs-central/.
The Spartan sideline reacts as Eddie Johnson (10) scores a touchdown.