Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Show most coaches the passing stats Solon has compiled in two playoff games and there will likely be some concerned looks.

There was a good reason veteran Solon coach Kevin Miller wasn’t fretting about the 155 total pass yards for his team in the postseason.

Miller added a few new wrinkles to the Solon offense for the postseason, namely unleashing the running of senior quarterback Cam Miller.

The 205-pound Miller has added a power run threat to the Solon offense in the postseason, posting back-to-back 100 yard performances to help the Spartans return to the 3A semifinals for the second time in three seasons.

“We kept that in our back pocket because there was no need to run him in our district,” Kevin Miller said. “We ran him when we needed to but we knew that he had the ability to run the football.”

A three-year starter and the all-time leading passer in program history, Cam Miller threw for better than 1,800 yards and 22 touchdowns during the regular season.

It has been the running of Miller that has been key for Solon (11-0) in its two postseason wins.

Miller ran for 143 yards and a score on a career-high 27 carries in an opening round win over Liberty High.

In a 24-0 win over Pella in the quarterfinals Miller rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns as Solon rolled up 234 yards on the ground.

“We wanted to try to spread them out and we went into some of our five wide stuff and tried to pull them out of the box and when they pulled out we ran the quarterback,” Kevin Miller said. “That’s the thing if you want to pull bodies out to defend our athletes we have a guy that can run the football inside too.”

Solon averaged 154 rushing yards per game during the regular season but has seen that number spike in two postseason wins.

The Spartans have posted their top two rushing performances of the season in the playoffs while averaging 239 yards per game on the ground.

Miller has led the way as Solon rushed for 243 yards against Liberty High and 234 against Pella but has gotten plenty of help.

Senior running back Seamus Poynton ran for 63 yards against Pella and senior Jace Andregg (65 yards), Jackson Ryan (41 yards) and Lucas TePoel (35) have combined for 141 yards in the postseason.

I thought Seamus ran well, I thought our offensive line did a great job,” Miller said. “I just thought we were really consistent and complete on offense.”

Home at the Dome: After each enduring uncharacteristically early ends to their seasons a year ago Solon and Regina are both returning to their postseason home away from home at the UNI-Dome.

Few teams in Eastern Iowa have spent more time at the UNI-Dome over the past decade than Solon and Regina.

After missing the postseason for the first time since 2003 a year ago Regina is making its ninth semifinal appearance in the past 10 seasons, a string that includes eight title game appearances and six championship.

Solon lost its playoff opener a year ago but responded this fall to make its second semifinal trip to three seasons and sixth appearance at the Dome since 2007.

Tone setter: Facing a long-time rival with your season and a trip to the state semifinals on the line its hard to get off to a better start than Regina did on Friday night against West Branch.

Junior Levi Quinlan set the tone early, returning the opening kick off 95 yards to give the Regals an early boost in what ended as a 30-20 win.

It was the first career kick return score for Quinlan and first of the season for the Regals who entered averaging around 13 yards per return as a team.

“We hadn’t really produced that much in our kick return throughout the year,” Quinlan said. “But in the last two games it’s been a lot better. I got the ball and everybody blocked perfectly and there was a giant hole.”

Dunn right: Quinlan and his kick return mates weren’t the only special teams heroes for Regina in its quarterfinal win.

Michael Dunn continued his stellar season with a pair of field goals making the senior kicker 3-for-3 in postseason field goal attempts.

Dunn hit field goals of 35 and 22 yards in the win over West Branch and nailed a season-long 38 yarder in an opening-round win over Mediapolis.

On the season Dunn is now 10-of-11 on field goals.

Smothering Spartans: Solon has been strong on defense all season but the Spartans haven’t been any better on that side of the ball than in their two playoff wins.

The Spartans have allowed a combined seven points in back-to-back playoff wins while holding both Liberty High and Pella under 200 yards of total offense.

Solon has held eight of 11 opponents to seven points or fewer this season and hasn’t allowed more than seven points in a game since Oct. 11.

Offensive performer of the week: Theo Kolie picked the perfect time for the best game of his young career.

The Regina junior rushed for a career-high 202 yards on 27 carries in a 30-20 win over West Branch.

Kolie also caught two passes for 19 yards and had 2.5 tackles in the win.

Best of the rest: Solon senior Jace Andregg ran for 40 yards and also caught two passes for 39 yards and a touchdown in a 24-0 win over Pella.

West Branch senior receiver Trey Eagle caught two passes for 57 yards and a touchdown in a 30-20 loss to Regina.

Regina junior quarterback Ashton Cook passed for 85 yards and also rushed for 24 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-20 win over West Branch.

Defensive performer of the week: Everyone on the Solon defense should get recognized this week after the Spartans 24-0 shutout win over Pella but linebackers Carson Shive and Jax Flynn can share the weekly honor.

Shive had a team-high 9.5 tackles including eight solo stops and Flynn added seven tackles as Solon held the Dutch under 200 yards of total offense.

Best of the rest: Regina sophomore Aiden Udell team-high six tackles including five solo stops in a 30-20 win over West Branch.

West Branch senior linebacker Tanner Lukavsky had seven tackles, five solos and 3.5 for loss including a sack in a 30-20 loss to Regina.

West Branch senior Cameron Howsare had a team-high 7.5 in a 30-20 loss to Regina.

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