Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DAVENPORT – A rare Thursday night road trip switched up the weekly routine for Class 3A fourth-ranked Solon.

The slight schedule change did nothing to slow the Spartans.

Cam Miller threw for 233 yards and five touchdowns and Solon (4-0) allowed just two first downs in an emphatic 47-7 win over Davenport Assumption (1-3) in the final non-district contest for both teams at Brady Street Stadium in Davenport.

“It was a different routine, our week was different playing on a Thursday but I thought we came out and played really well,” Miller said. “Our special teams, offense and defense all played pretty well tonight.”

Miller threw four of his five touchdown passes in the first half as Solon raced to a 40-7 halftime lead.

Five different receivers caught touchdown passes from Miller as the Spartans scored touchdowns on seven of its first 10 possessions.

“I thought we executed at a pretty high level and when we come out right away and jump on top it really helps our confidence,” Solon coach Kevin Miller said. “When we get things started quick we settle in and we play a little bit more the way we are accustomed to playing.”

Solon recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and scored two plays later while building a 19-0 lead just more than nine minutes into the game.

That was more than enough for a stingy Solon defense that recovered three fumbles, held Davenport Assumption to negative yards rushing and two first downs while forcing nine punts.

“Every game we are getting better and better,” Solon senior linebacker Adam Bock said. “You can see everybody running to the football and that’s a big priority for us and you can see that it shows on game nights when we are shutting people out or holding them to seven points.”

Solon turned a pair of Assumption turnovers into touchdowns before the game was 10 minutes old.

Ben McAtee jumped on a fumble on the opening kickoff to set the Spartans up at the Knight 32 yard line.

Two plays later Miller found a wide-open Jackson Pipolo for a 17-yard touchdown pass just 50 seconds into the game.

“We knew that they were a good team and that we needed to be physical and aggressive right

away and that’s what we did,” Solon junior Seamus Poynton said. “The fumble on the opening kick kind of set everything up.”

Bock turned in the play of the game later in the first quarter when he took a swing pass from Miller, broke several tackles and raced 47 yards for a touchdown.

The senior running back broke a tackle in the backfield, spun free of a pair of Assumption defenders and broke toward the sideline before running through a final tackle near the goal line.

“That was almost James Morris like that one play,” Kevin Miller said comparing Bock’s run to the former Solon and Iowa standout.  “It’s been a while since we had a player make a play like that. That was a pretty amazing play.”

The touchdown reception by Bock put Solon up 13-0 and seemed to pump even more energy into the Spartan sideline.

“We put a new play in this week, it was a little wrinkle from a play we’ve run previously and everybody just held their blocks the whole way and I got it in the end zone,” Bock said of the score. “Once I got to the safety, I wasn’t going to let the safety tackle me after that run so that’s when I kind of knew I was going to be in the end zone.”

Ryan Geistkemper recovered a fumble on the ensuing Solon possession and Bock bullied his way into the end zone six plays later to give Solon a 19-0 lead with 2:59 left in the first quarter.

“Our routine was off a little, it was a little different having a short week but I think we all came in really focused,” Bock said. “I think our preparation and focus showed tonight.”

Poynton capped a 9-play, 70-yard drive with a 22-yard touchdown run to put Solon up 26-0.

Assumption got on the board on the first play from scrimmage following Poynton’s run on an 80-yard scoring strike from Brandon Schlichting to Nick Gottilla.

Solon answered with a pair of touchdowns in the less than two minutes to end the half.

Miller found AJ Coons all alone for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 2:16 left in the opening half. Following an Assumption 3-and-out on the next possession Miller and Poynton connected on a 46-yard screen pass for a score with 17 seconds left in the first half.

Assumption brought pressure and Miller floated a ball to Poynton who went untouched to the endzone to give Solon a 40-7 halftime lead.

“They blitzed everybody right on that side,” Poynton said. “I knew it was a touchdown right when I saw that my lineman was almost out running me.

Miller capped the scoring with his fifth touchdown pass of the day, an 11-yard strike to senior Dillon Hoit with 6:06 left in the third quarter that triggered the running clock.

“To have a quick turnaround against a team like Assumption who is very sound fundamentally, that plays hard, and is physical we knew it was going to be a battle,” Kevin Miller said. “Coming out the way that we did and getting some early scores I was pleased with how our kids handled being out of their routine because that was a concern.”

Miller finished  15-of-23 through the air for 233 yards and five scores with Coons leading the way with six receptions for 49 yards.

Bock rushed for 59 yards and a score to go with his 47-yard touchdown grab as seven different Spartans caught passes.

“Teams are starting to bracket AJ so it is hard to get him the ball so I have to find other players to make big plays,” Cam Miller said. “We had a lot of guys make big plays today.”
 

                            SOL                DA

First downs                13                     2

Rushes-yards          31-89               21-(-2)

Comp-Att-Int             15-23-1           6-15-0

Passing yards             222                106

Total yards                 311                  104

Punts-Avg.                 5-50.2              9-38.7

Fumbles-lost               1-0                   3-3

Penalties-yards          4-25                 3-25

Davenport Assumption     0    7   0  0  –   7

Solon                                  19  21  7  0  –  47

SOL – Jackson Pipolo 17 pass from Cam Miller (Cael O’Neill kick)            

SOL – Adam Bock 47 pass from Miller (Kick failed)

SOL – Bock 1 run (Pass failed)

SOL – Seamus Poynton 22 run (O’Neill kick)

DA – Nick Gottilla 80 pass from Brandon Schlichting (Franz Sirna kick)

SOL – AJ Coons 25 pass from Miller (Aidan Dall kick)

SOL – Poynton 46 pass from Miller (O’Neill kick)

SOL – Dillon Hoit 11 pass from Miller (Dall kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – SOL: Adam Bock 12-59, Seamus Poynton 5-28, Cam Miller 4-5, Thomas Brandt 10-(-3). DA: Nathan Schlichting 5-6, Tyler Kulhanek 2-5, Nick Gotilla 1-2, Johnny Hua 6-1, Adam Metivier 1-(-2), Brandon Schlichting 4-(-10), Team 2-(-4).

PASSING – SOL: Cam Miller 15-23-1 222. DA: Brandon Schlichting 6-15-0 106.

RECEIVING – SOL: AJ Coons 6-49, Dillon Hoit 3-42, Seamus Poynton 2-51, Adam Bock 1-47, Joe Stahle 1-20, Jackson Pipolo 1-17, Colton Spillman 1-7. DA: Nick Gotilla 2-85, Nathan Schlichting 1-7, Simon Weitz 1-6, Adam Metivier 1-5, Johnny Hua 1-3.