Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Cam Miller went through all the normal adjustments a first-year starting quarterback has to make.  

Picking up the offense, gaining a rapport with receivers, transitioning to the speed and physicality of the varsity level.

The Solon sophomore also had to get used to one thing most new quarterbacks never have to think about – how to handle living with the head coach.

It was that area that provided a few rough moments for Miller, the son of long-time Solon coach Kevin Miller, early in the season.

“It started out a little rocky,” Kevin Miller said with a smile. “He was not happy after the Mount Vernon game. That weekend he was really kind of upset with me.”

The disagreement following a 19-0 season-opening win over Mount Vernon was pretty simple.

The young competitive quarterback wanted to make big plays in his varsity debut.   

The veteran coach saw a three-score first quarter lead and a quarterback making his first varsity start and went conservative.

“My freshman year we threw the ball and did a lot and then my first varsity game we ran it a lot and we didn’t throw it and I just kind of told him we need to throw it more,” Cam Miller said. “I was pretty upset with him.”

Not surprising the coach (and father) had the final word in that conversation that ended with a message and a plea for patience.

The time for making plays will come Kevin Miller assured his quarterback.

“I said my job is to do what’s best for the team and whatever role you have to assume as the quarterback whether that’s handing the ball off or whatever that is what we are going to ask you to do and you did that and we were pleased,” Kevin Miller said. “Now are we going to ask you to do more as we move through the season? Yes, and we’ve done that and we are going to have to continue to do that.”

Each game Miller has been give more and more opportunities to make plays and each game he has made the most of the opportunities.

Miller completed 5-of-13 passes for 64 yards in his debut against Mount Vernon.

He followed with a 126-yard, two-touchdown performance in a 33-0 win over Regina before torching Keokuk for 308 yards and four scores last week.

“The first game was so much faster,” Miller said. “That speed is a lot different and I had to kind of get used to how fast things moved but going against our defense helps me a lot with that.”

Over the last two games the 6-foot-0, 180-pound Miller has thrown for 434 yards and six touchdowns while completing 63 percent of his passes and rushed for 68 yards and a score.

“He went from playing freshman football to playing varsity,” Kevin Miller said. “For him it was kind of, I don’t want to say baptism by fire but I think essentially that’s kind of what happened. I think he’s grown a lot, I think he understands what we are trying to do. He still has a long way to go and he’ll be the first one to tell you that but I think he has a good grasp of what we are trying to do.”

Miller may see his heaviest workload yet on Friday when Class 3A top-ranked Solon (3-0) hosts Washington (3-0) in a meeting of District 5 favorites at Spartan Stadium.

Washington has been one of the best defensive teams in Class 3A through three weeks.

The Demons are allowing 204 yards and 9.3 points per game.

“They have always been very stingy on defense,” Kevin Miller said. “We have had a difficult time moving the ball against them. They run various packages and they bring a lot of pressure at you so we’ve got to be able to do a good job of recognizing that pressure.”

Washington has been especially stingy against the run this season, allowing 56 yards per game on the ground.

Solon has struggled to run the ball against Washington in the past.

The Spartans are averaging 116 yards per game in five games with the Demons the past four seasons and have run for more than 150 yards just once during that span, a 28-17 win in 2014.

Last season Solon managed just 72 rushing yards on 28 carries in a 36-15 win at Washington.

“We know it’s going to be tough sledding from time to time, very similar to Regina in that we are going to have to earn it,” Kevin Miller said. “They don’t give up big plays traditionally so we’ve just got to stay patient and stay with what we do.”

With a defense adept at stopping the run the opportunities to make plays in the passing game could be there for Cam Miller.

If those opportunities are present the sophomore signal caller plans to be ready.

“I’m been watching a lot of film and trying to study what they are doing and trying to get better,” Cam Miller said. “They are big and physical and they run pretty well so it’s going to be a tough test and a great game.”