Benton football fans left lukewarm hand warmers scattered across the wobbly, steel bleachers in the away stands at Spartan Stadium. They abandoned half-drank Xtra Pibb and Diet Coke bottles, crystallized from the cold. Trampled Styrofoam cups, once filled with hot chocolate, littered the rows they’d packed an hour earlier. Thirty-one of those cups, to be exact. The same number of points the Solon Spartans scored against them, sending the Bobcats home with playoff hopes destroyed.
It felt like déjà vu.
On November 1, a year prior, Solon beat Benton 34-27 in the opening round of the Iowa High School Athletic Association football playoffs to advance. A year later, the same result. Only more dominant. 31-6. A decisive reminder of who runs Class 3A.
Next, Solon, still undefeated, will host Winterset on Friday (November 7) at 7:00 p.m. in the quarterfinals. The Huskies earned their spot with a 28-6 win over Independence in Round 1 and haven’t lost in five weeks. They’ve scored at least 20 points in all but one game this season.
“When you let a good team hang around, that’s when you come into those close games,” head coach Lucas Stanton said after the Benton victory. “Tonight that wasn’t the case. Our guys really bowed up.”
Solon’s physical, turnover-hungry defense will have to bow up again on Friday. They’ve been the calling card. Many starters play both ways, fueling 29 total takeaways on the year–14 interceptions, 15 fumble recoveries. 2.9 takeaways per game. It’s been over a month since Solon has allowed seven points in a single game.
Against Benton, that defense was unsurprisingly ruthless. On a blitz call from assistant coach Matt Haddy, senior Tripp Johnson blitzed untouched through the middle.
“Oh I’m here,” Johnson said of his mindset after the game. “So I’m just going to hit somebody.”
Spot on. Johnson forced a fumble that Solon’s Lucas Feuerbach recovered, setting up an Eli Kampman-to-Maddox Kelley touchdown. That pair, who also play defense, connected for 144 yards and two total touchdowns on Friday. Minutes later, Johnson snagged an interception, and teammate Cody Milliman followed suit.
“I frickin’ love you, Tripp!” Haddy yelled out.
Solon’s offense matched intensity. And they too have done it all season. On Friday from their own 12-yard line, Kampman rolled right and found Kelley streaking across the middle for an 88-yard touchdown. The mindset?
“Run as fast as I can and don’t get caught,” Kelley chuckled. “Cause I’ll hear it from my dad if I get caught.”
Against a vicious defense and relentless offense, Benton never stood a chance. Of course it couldn’t hurt that the student section was alive and well, even amidst the frigid temperatures. Sightings of the Grinch, Gru and his minions, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and a large inflatable gorilla could be seen dancing and shouting on Halloween night. They kept the energy, and the team fed off it.
“Benton wanted to take momentum back,” Stanton said. “We never let them.”
The great news for Solon? Friday’s game is back at home. Same crowd, same turf. But this time with even higher stakes. It’s been more than two years since Solon won a quarterfinal game. This group plans to change that.
“We’re just excited to be playing another week,” said Stanton.
Ticket information: www.iahsaa.org/tickets/