Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Comparing teams from year to year is futile task for a football coach.  

Kevin Miller doesn’t need 20 years of head coaching experience to know that.

Despite that knowledge Miller couldn’t help but wonder where his current team ranks defensively in relation to some of his best after watching his Solon squad post its fourth shutout in six games on Friday.

“We’ve had some great defenses here but I just think that as a unit especially against the run this might be one of the best teams we’ve had,” Miller said. “It’s unfair to compare but they certainly rank up there as one of the better ones.”  

Six weeks into the season the numbers support Miller’s assertion that his current defense is among the best he’s had in 17 seasons at Solon.

Solon has allowed 14 points in six games after blanking Fort Madison 62-0 on Friday.

The four shutouts are the most in a season for Solon since the James Morris-led Spartans posted five in 14 games in 2009.

That 2009 Solon team allowed 5.7 points per game on its way to a 14-0 season and 2A state title and Solon squad has held opponents to less than 9.4 points per game since.

Through six games this season the Spartans are giving up 2.3 points per game.

“It’s just been a whole team approach,” Miller said. “Everyone understands the value of doing their job and takes pride in it.”

Solon has been simply dominant in every phase defensively this season starting against the run.

The Spartans are holding opponents to 2.2 yards per carry and 47 rushing yards per game.

 “It starts up front with Tyler (Linderbaum) and the two ends with the Wegmann twins and (senior defensive tackle) Matt Folkerts does a nice job and we have other guys that we shuffle in and out of there,” Miller said. “Then when you have two stout inside linebackers and Kendrick (Harris) and Ryan Geistkemper on the outside those are some pretty good football players that run really, really well and are physical.”  

Junior inside linebackers Coal Flansburg and Adam Bock join Geistkemper as the leading tacklers.

Bock leads the team with 27 stops while Flansburg has 18.

“We’ve had some great players, guys like James Morris,” Miller said. “It would be unfair to say that thy are at that level but they certainly are good high school football players that have a high ceiling.”

Solon has been impressive in every defensive category.

The Spartans are allowing 124 total yards per game and have forced 18 turnovers, returning five for touchdowns.

“I think our secondary has played extremely well,” Miller said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with Jack Stahle and Storm Scott and Greg Brandt and Dillon Hoit has done a nice job filling in. Those guys are playing at a very high level.”  

The Run Stops Here

Speaking of impressive defense West High had its own dominant effort on Friday.

West High set a school record for fewest rushing yards allowed, holding Burington to -42 yards on the ground in a 49-0 win.

The -42 allowed by the Trojans on Friday was seven fewer than West High allowed in the 1995 state title game, a 42-0 win over West Des Moines Dowling.

Getting His Kicks

For the second straight week Beau Cornwell used his legs to give West Branch a victory.

A week after scoring the game-winning touchdown on a quarterback sneak to beat Bellevue, Cornwell booted a career-long 42-yard field goal with 43 seconds left in a 24-23 win over Durant.

“We had a great snap, the line protected me really well and Brett (Schiele) had a great hold,” Cornwell said. “It was just up to me and I was thankful it went through.”

The game-winning field goal was the school-record sixth made field goal of the season for Cornwell who is also 12-of-13 on extra points this season.

Take Away Time

In the first five games of the season the Regina defense forced a total of three turnovers and didn’t have more than 1 takeaway in any game.

Regina changed those numbers on Friday.

The Regals had four interceptions among five takeaways in a 49-7 win over previously unbeaten Wilton.

Jayden Kies, Ryan Schott, Cole White and Alex Wick all had interceptions and Kieler Brown recovered a fumble in the win.

“We work all the time at forcing turnovers in the secondary in 7-on-7 stuff,” Regina senior Jake Phillips said. “This week it finally worked out for us.”

Offensive Player of the Week

Last week West High senior Traevis Buchanan became the seventh player in program history with 1,000 career receiving yards.

On Friday Buchanan turned in perhaps the best performance of his career.

Buchanan caught seven passes for a career-high 201 yards and three touchdowns in a 49-0 win over Burlington.

The senior receiver had touchdown grabs of 6, 58 and 40 yards all in the first half.  

Best of the Rest

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Regina senior running back Isaac Vollstedt rushed for 130 yards and four touchdowns on 10 carries in a 49-7 win over Wilton.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>City High senior receiver Zach Jones had 12 catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns in a 63-28 loss to Davenport Central.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>West Branch senior receiver Ben Thompson caught nine passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-23 win over Durant.

Defensive Player of the Week

Cole White did it all in Regina’s 49-7 win over previously unbeaten Wilton.

The senior defensive end had three tackles for loss and two sacks among his five solo tackles and also had an interception as No. 4 Regina took control of the District 4 race.

White has 18.5 tackles and five sacks in three games since entering the Regina lineup.

5 tackles, 3 TFL 2 sacks and interception

Best of the Rest

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Solon junior safety Dillon Hoit returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown, the fifth defensive score of the season for Solon in a 62-0 win over Fort Madison.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Clear Creek Amana senior linebacker David Jensen had 10 solon stops and three tackles for loss among his team-high 10.5 tackles in a 35-6 loss to West Delaware.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Kobe Burns, Nathan Dill, Owen McAreavy and Jason Strunk all had sacks for West High as the Trojans posted their first shutout of the season, a 49-0 blanking of Burlington.