The second quarter had just begun, and the Solon Spartans were lined up at the 11-yard line for 3rd and goal. The Spartans were still looking to score their first offensive touchdown against Winterset’s stingy defense. Head coach Lucas Stanton designed a play for junior receiver Maddox Kelley to run a corner route to the back right of the endzone.
After the ball was snapped, Eli Kampman, Solon’s senior quarterback, was immediately pursued by multiple Winterset defenders with the goal of pummeling him.
Kelley noticed his quarterback in trouble and strategically altered his route by swimming through a sea of Winterset players to find an opening. Kampman, while being chased, saw the opening and fired the football to Kelley in the back middle of the endzone for a touchdown. The extra point was good, and the scoreboard read 21-0.
The score was the nail in the coffin as the Spartans would win 21-6. The win keeps No. 2 Solon undefeated at 11-0, and now they will travel to the UNI-Dome to face No. 7 Nevada (Iowa) in the state semifinals. The game will be played on Saturday (November 15) at 7:00 P.M.
Nevada defeated Clear Lake 24-14 in the quarterfinals, improving their record to 9-2. In the game against Clear Lake, Nevada rushed for 196 yards on 48 carries while also scoring three passing touchdowns. Despite their dominance on the ground last week, Nevada has beaten teams via a pretty even split of pass and run. This season, Nevada has 1677 passing yards and 27 passing touchdowns with 1834 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.
Aside from the one drive that ended with a Maddox Kelley receiving touchdown, the Solon offense was halted. Instead, the defense came to the rescue.
On defense, the Spartans intercepted Winterset four times, three of those interceptions by Maddox Kelley and one being a 50-yard pick-six.
“The pick six, that’s all on my teammates,” Kelley said, “Tripp [Johnson] patted it down, and it fell in my hands.”
With no defenders in front of Kelley on the run back, he felt like he was gifted a free touchdown.
“He’s an athlete,” Eli Kampman said, “he did it on both offense and defense.”
Kampman looked to throw Kelley’s way all night as six of his 11 completions went to the junior receiver.
“Big time players make big time plays in big time moments,” Kampman said, regarding Kelley.
Coach Stanton loves Kelley’s versatility and does his best to draw up plays to get the ball in his and the other playmaker’s hands.
“Maddox is a pretty special player,” Stanton said.
Kelley’s versatility was on display the entire night. On offense, he finished with six catches for 50 receiving yards and one touchdown, ten carries for 41 rushing yards, and one completion for 13 passing yards. On defense, he had six tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack, and three interceptions, one being a pick-six.
Solon’s second touchdown of the night happened early in the first quarter when junior defensive end James Thomsen blocked one of Winterset’s punts. That blocked punt was recovered for a touchdown by junior lineman Simon Einwalter.
Following an onside kick at the start of the third quarter that resulted in a rushing touchdown for Winterset, it seemed like the Huskies had momentum. However, Solon’s defense stepped in and terminated their hopes of making a comeback.
Despite winning their second playoff game and sitting comfortably with an 11-0 record, Solon’s focal point is next week’s game.
“[The goal for next week is] getting all the guys healthy,” Kelley said, “and then it’s just preparing for the next [opponent].”