Richard C. Lewis

Your Prep Sports

MOUNT VERNON – Opportunity knocked, and Solon took full advantage.

The Spartans blocked a punt for a TD and scored on an interception return to fuel a 19-point first-quarter blitz that proved the difference in a 19-0 win over Mount Vernon in the annual Highway 1 rivalry game at Cornell College.

Solon’s defense twice intercepted Mount Vernon star quarterback Drew Adams in the first half, and forced the Mustangs to turn the ball over on downs three times in pitching the shutout.

“Special teams and defense were huge,” said Solon coach Kevin Miller, whose Spartans notched their 15th consecutive win in the series. “I thought we kept a pretty good offense at bay. You know, they got some plays and some yards, but they didn’t make any big plays, and that was really our goal coming in, preventing the big play.”

Instead, it was Solon that turned the big plays.

Coal Flansburg got things going with a pick-six of Mount Vernon quarterback Drew Adams on the Mustangs’ first play from scrimmage. The junior linebacker stepped in front of Mount Vernon receiver Cale Snedden to snare Adams’ pass and ran in virtually untouched from 40 yards out to stake Solon to an early lead.

“I just dropped back, read pass, saw the quarterback’s eyes, he threw it right to me,” Flansburg said. “I saw open grass, and I got a touchdown.”

Flansburg said he saw the play develop the whole way.

“We were really excited about the game, but we were really hyped up” after the play, Flansburg added.

The unbridled emotions spilled over two Mustangs possessions later.

With Mount Vernon punting from its own 16, Kendrick Harris bull rushed into the backfield and blocked the punt. The ball caromed toward the right corner of the end zone, as players from both teams scrambled to locate it. Adam Bock spied the ball, and dashed in from at least 20 yards to recover the botched punt for a touchdown.

Harris said the team had prepared for Mount Vernon to line up tight. Instead, he was surprised to see the Mustangs spread out. So, he and Bock made a run at a lineman, forcing him to choose whom to block.

“I mean, I saw that hole open right in front of me, and then I ran past that inside blocker, and just dove,” said Harris, a senior who plays linebacker as well as the team’s lead running back. “I blocked it, and, yeah, it was a pretty surreal moment.”

The two-point conversion failed, but it was still 12-0 Spartans with six minutes left in the first quarter.

At that point, Solon had gained just 18 yards. It didn’t matter, because the Spartans defense was bottling up the Mount Vernon offense, led by Adams, a senior who threw for a state-best 2,785 yards and 29 touchdowns last year.

The Spartans picked off Adams twice in the first half, and limited him to 23-40 passing and 187 yards for the game.

“That’s kind of our philosophy: We bend, but we don’t break,” Miller said. “The thing is, we’ll give you some yards, but we won’t give you the big play. We knew they were going to come in and throw the football, you know, with a great passer. We knew we would have our hands full and would need to put pressure on the quarterback, and in coverage do our job and be sound. And, for the most part, we were solid.”

Mount Vernon was forced to punt again on its next possession after the blocked punt for TD miscue. Again, Harris barreled through the middle and got his hand on the ball, suffocating the punt and giving the Spartans the ball at the Mount Vernon 22. Spencer Wegmann rumbled in on the next play to give Solon all the cushion it would need.

“That’s really kind of our MO, honestly,” Miller said. “We pride ourselves on playing good defense and special teams play is a pillar of what we do. And, obviously that was huge tonight.”

Harris, who rushed for 883 yards and 12 touchdowns last year, left the game in the third quarter with an injured right ankle and did not return. He said he’s day to day.

The Spartans turned to a running back by committee approach, with four running backs shouldering the load and running clock. Cam Miller, a sophomore making his first start at quarterback, finished 6-14 for 67 yards.

“We knew we were going to have some growing pains at the quarterback position, with a young quarterback,” Miller said of his son. “Cam did a nice job of managing the game and distributing the ball. We just got some things to shore up scheme-wise. We’ll get that taken care of, and hopefully will be better next week.”

                                                Solon                           Mount Vernon

First downs                            9                                  13

Rushes-Yards                        39-144                         27-57                          

Passing Yards                        67                                187

Comp-Att-Int                         6-14-0                          23-38-2

Fumbles-Lost                         0-0                               0-0

Penalties-Yards                     7-60                             8-75

Solon                      19    0     0    0   –    19

Mount Vernon          0     0     0    0   –     0

SOL – Coal Flansburg 35 INT return (2-point conversion failed)

SOL – Adam Bock blocked punt recovery (2-point conversion failed)

SOL – Spencer Wegmann 22 run (Bock kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – SOL: Kendrick Harris 13-17, Cam Miller5-9, Coal Flansburg 5-21, Adam Bock 2-25, Spencer Wegmann 2-23, Hunter Kula 10-42, Mason Stahle 1-7. MV: Colden Clark 5-39, Drew Adams 12- -28, Paul Ryan 8-44, Cale Snedden 2-2.

PASSING – SOL: Cam Miller 6-14-0 67. MV: Drew Adams 23-40-2 187.

RECEIVING – SOL: Payton Bandy 3-55, Storm Scott 1-3, A.J. Coons 2-9. MV: Cale Snedden 10-96, Matt Gearhart 1-7, Detrick Vondracek 5-31, Zach Baker 2-19, Blake Booth 4-24, Colden Clark 1-10.