Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – On a night when Solon honored its state title teams from 2007, 2008 and 2009 the Spartans didn’t look anything like a championship team for most of the first three quarters.

In the final 13 minutes the Spartans did what have done so many times under head coach Kevin Miller – they found a way to win.

Jace Andregg scored a pair of second-half touchdowns as Solon rallied from a 10-point deficit for a 17-13 win over Davenport Assumption (2-2) on Friday in the non-district finale for both teams at Spartan Stadium.

Solon (4-0) had to overcame nine penalties, a turnover and a 10-point halftime deficit to stretch its regular season winning streak to 29.

“We found a way to dig deep when we needed to and our kids kept scratching and clawing,” Miller said. “We just didn’t come out of the shoot ready to play. They physically took it to us and they executed at a higher level than us and to our kids credit they responded three fold in the second half by digging in on defense and on offense we still were super sharp but we made a few plays and then found a way at the end to get it done. It wasn’t pretty.”

Nothing came easy for Class 3A fourth-ranked Solon on Friday but the Spartans made the plays late to pull out a win.

Andregg caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Cam Miller with 1:02 left in the third quarter to cut the Assumption lead to 13-10.

The senior then scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on a fourth and goal play to give the Spartans their first lead with 4:43 left.

“Being down like that it’s pretty stressful and we know we don’t expect to play like that,” Andregg said. “We knew coming into this game they were a really good team and we didn’t execute in the first half but in the second half we were better.”

Senior linebacker Jax Flynn led an inspired second-half defensive effort as the Spartans held Davenport Assumption scoreless over the final two quarters.

Flynn was responsible for three of the Knights four turnovers, picking off a pair of passes including the game-clincher with 51 seconds left.

“We have a lot of heart,” Flynn said. “We prepared for this and we were able to come out and get a win.”

The first interception by Flynn kept the Spartans within striking distance early.

Assumption needed less than three minutes to take a 7-0 lead.

The Knights forced a Solon three-and-out to open the game and then marched 43 yards in four plays and took a 7-0 lead on a Nate Schlichting 1-yard touchdown run.

Assumption was poised to add on to its lead marching to the Solon 5 yard line on its next possession but Flynn picked off a Tyler Kulhanek pass in the end zone.

The Knights eventually did add to their lead, taking a 13-3 halftime advantage on a 15-yard Kulhanek scamper with 24 seconds left in the first half.

After allowing 200 yards of offense and 6.3 yards per play in the opening half the Solon defense stiffened after halftime.

“All week in practice we worked on the game plan and reading our keys and I’ll be honest in the first half we didn’t do that stuff, we were kind of going solo,” Andregg said. “The second half we made some adjustments in the locker room and we played a lot better with our keys and it helped a lot.”

Solon held the Knights to 103 yards and 3.3 yards per play in the final two quarters and more importantly kept Assumption off the scoreboard in the final two quarters.

The Spartans continued to struggle to get anything going on offense until Flynn sparked his team again, recovering a Kulhanek fumble at the Solon 22 with four minutes left in the third quarter.

Six plays later Miller connected with Andregg for a 14-yard touchdown strike on a third-and-12 play.

“Early in the game I had one and drew a flag when he hit me early and I knew that play was going to be the same thing so I just tried to get it and hold on because I knew he was going to hit me,” Andregg said. “That was a big momentum boost for us.”

The Spartans needed one more late break and got it when Sully Steen hopped on an Assumption fumble with 7:42 left.

Two plays later Miller connected with AJ Coons for a 67-yard catch and run that set up Solon with a first-and-goal from the 10 and a personal foul penalty moved the ball to the five.  

“I was just waiting for AJ to make that one play that he always does and he did,” Flynn said. “He came up big.”

An offside penalty and three runs got the ball to the 1 yard line where Andregg punched it in on fourth down.

“The last two plays we had gone quarterback dive and we called a jet sweep and it was wide open,” Andregg said. ““I just saw a wide open hole and I dove in.”

Solon needed one final stop and got it from Flynn.

The Knights drove to the Solon 30 with under a minute to play when Flynn dropped back and picked off a Kulhanek pass to seal the win.

“I wasn’t really supposed to be there but I just read his eyes and saw that their tight end did a flag route to the out of bounds and I read his eyes and just filled in,” Flynn said. “All the credit goes to Caleb Ebert, I wouldn’t have gotten that if the d-line wasn’t putting pressure on him.”

Davenport Assumption finished with a 303 to 222 advantage in total yardage and an 18-9 edge in first downs.

However, the final five drives for the Knights produced just 50 yards and ended with two punts, two fumbles and an interception.

“Our kids were more disciplined in the second half,” Miller said. “It was about effort and guys doing what they are supposed to be doing.”

                                    SOL                  DA

First Downs                  9                      18

Rushes-yards             28-78               38-141

Comp-Att-Int               9-19-1              13-25-2

Passing Yards            144                  162

Total yards                   222                  303

Punts-avg.                  5-35.8              4-36.8

Fumbles-lost                0-0                   5-2

Penalties                     9-70                 9-63

Solon                                        0  3  7  7  –  17

Davenport Assumption        7  6  0  0  –  13

DA – Nate Schlichting 1 run (Franz Sirna kick)

SOL – Cael O’Neill 24 field goal

DA – Tyler Kulhanek 15 run (Kick failed)

SOL – Jace Andregg 14 pass from Cam Miller (O’Neill kick)

SOL – Andregg 1 run (O’Neill kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – SOL: Seamus Poynton 9-64, Cam Miller 15-23, Jace Andregg 4-(-9). DA: Tyler Kulhanek 20-74, Nate Schlichting 6-32, Dayne Hodge 7-18, Seth Adrian 3-8, John Argo 1-7, Grant Simpson 1-2.

PASSING – SOL: Cam Miller 9-19-1 144. DA: Tyler Kulhanek 13-25-2 162

RECEIVING – SOL: AJ Coons 4-95, Jace Andregg 3-17, Cole Arduser 2-32. DA: Simon Weitz 4-43, Dayne Hodge 3-23, Grant Simpson 2-24, Nate Schlichting 1-42, John Argo 1-13, Seth Adrian 1-10, Owen Hamel 1-7.

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