Chris Umscheid
Mount Vernon’s Michael Ryan (3) and Caleb Keegan (30) try to keep Maddox Kelley from sailing into the endzone Friday, Sept. 12 in Solon. Kelley, a junior, rushed 13 times for 110 yards and two scores and made three receptions for 21 yards and another touchdown in a 35-20 win on Armed Forces Night.
Hundreds of tiny rubber pellets stick to the feet of Eli Kampman. Not to his cleats. Not his socks. He is barefoot, circling Spartan Stadium. In his right hand, Solon’s star junior quarterback grips a football, bouncing it every few steps. A shuffled playlist of classical music plays softly through his white wireless earbuds. He does all of this to ground himself. Even as rival fans pour in, chanting his name, he doesn’t notice. It’s not for show. He has done it every game to stay present. And on Friday night, the entire Spartan team was on his level.
Separated by less than 10 miles, Solon and Mount Vernon need only Highway 1 to find each other. Their rivalry dates back to 1962 and has raged for decades. From 2003 to 2022, Solon won 19 straight. Before Friday’s game, the series score read 37-30 in Solon’s favor. Changeable letter signs around town warned the visitors: Sorry Mustangs, Spartans do not do pony rides.
On Friday, the top-ranked Mustangs from down the road tried to look past that sign. But the Spartans had a different plan, bulldozing Mount Vernon 35-20 and extending their winning streak to three. Coming in, Kampman was Solon’s leading rusher. He had just 39 yards. Friday, he finished with 119. While Solon looked like an air-raid offense on tape, that illusion vanished in the opening quarter. And by the final whistle, the Spartans had piled up 240 rushing yards, 107 more than they had all season combined.
“If we are going to go as far as we want, we have to run the football,” Solon head coach Lucas Stanton said. “We were not hiding anything.”
Solon junior Maddox Kelley punched in a six-yard touchdown to start the game, but the Mustangs answered with a special teams showcase. Sophomore Holden Hlavacek returned the kickoff 94 yards to the house. Less than four minutes in, it was 7-7, already surpassing last year’s point total of 13.
Thirsty Mustangs chased Kampman, forcing bloodshed. The do-it-all quarterback, defensive back, and holder took a hit to his left hand, busting a gash on his thumb. He barely flinched.
“Can I get a towel?”
A quick dab, a shake of the hand, and he was ready. With a tear in his right undersleeve and smudged eye black across his face, he embodied his pregame message: stay present. Kampman kept the next drive alive with a third-down rollout to junior Cody Milliman, then zipped a 31-yard touchdown to junior Kaden Hoeper. His fist pump said it all.
“Those are my guys, man,” Kampman said. “I know where everyone is going to be. I can always find them.”
He proved it at halftime, finding Kelley in the locker room. The two munched on snack bags of Snyder’s pretzels, Kelley with a Gatorade towel draped over his head. Airplane engine-sized fans buzzed over the chatter, almost drowning out the smell of unwashed laundry. Kampman made it clear to echo his coaches: “Let’s not get complacent now.”
And they hadn’t all week. At practice that Wednesday, when the team’s tempo lagged, Kampman cranked up the rock music on the team speaker and called for more intensity. His teammates fed off that energy, carrying it through Friday’s battle.
The third quarter was a grind for both squads, Mount Vernon and Solon each managing only one scoreless drive. By the end of the frame, Solon led 21-7. Early in the fourth, Kelley struck again, a four-yard touchdown run that pushed him over 100 yards and gave Solon a 28-7 cushion. Seconds later, the Mustangs answered with a 47-yard touchdown strike from senior quarterback Kellen Haverback. After a PAT failure made it 28-13, Mount Vernon executed a perfect onside kick, keeping their hopes alive. For a fleeting moment, Mount Vernon threatened. But Solon remained disciplined.
“Our response to adversity will dictate the outcome,” Stanton said. “These guys believe that.”
Solon’s defense delivered. After a sack and fumble recovery, Solon drove the dagger into Mustang hearts. With 4:40 left, Kampman found sophomore Owen Bock over the middle, who shook off a tackle and sprinted 77 yards for the exclamation point. Kampman finished with 311 total yards and three touchdowns.
When the final whistle sounded, Kampman finally let loose. He sprinted to his teammates, posing for photos with Hoeper and Kelley. His battered black jersey streaked with sweat and turf pellets. Then he found his dad. Before every game, his father and Solon coach, Aaron, gives him a word to carry with him. On this night, it was trust. Trust in the run game. Trust in the defense. Trust in the preparation.
“Pretty fitting, right?” Kampman said with a grin.
On a night when Solon stunned the state’s top-ranked team, Kampman lived that word. He trusted his team. His routine. Himself. For 48 minutes, cleated or barefoot, he was grounded. And that presence carried the Spartans to victory.
On Friday, Solon travels to Benton to face the 2-1 Bobcats. Kampman and the Spartans will look to extend their winning streak to four and keep their undefeated, playoff-chasing season on track.