Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

For three quarters in the Class 3A semifinals Solon had all sorts of trouble slowing the high-powered Sergeant Bluff-Luton offense.

With the game on the line the Solon defense came up big.

Solon held Sergeant Bluff-Luton without points on three of its final four drives, including its final two as the Spartans rallied for a 43-36 win to return to the Class 3A title game for the first time since 2015.

“Our defense didn’t play the way that they wanted in the first half but they stepped up big in the last quarter,” Solon senior quarterback Cam Miller said. “They were amazing.”

Solon allowed season-highs in points (36), passing yards (316), total yards (419) as Sergeant Bluff-Luton ran 76 offensive plays.

The Warriors entered the game one of the top offensive teams in Class 3A averaging 37.7 points and 385 yards per game.

Sergeant Bluff-Luton scored on six of its first seven drives of the game and took its largest lead of the game with on its longest drive of the game, a 14-play, 88-yard march that gave the Warriors a 36-28 lead with 7:41 left.

“We gave up some yards on defense and they made some plays and the credit goes to them,” Solon coach Kevin Miller said. “But again it’s just back to our kids and the response that they made when they needed to in difficult circumstances.”

When it needed it to most the Solon defense made the type of plays it has all season.

Solon tied the game at 36 with 5:41 left and the Spartan defense came up big on the ensuing Sergean Bluff-Luton possession.

The Spartans forced the only three-and-out of the game punctuated by a Michael Broghammer on third and long.

“The credit goes to our kids,” Kevin Miller said. “They executed at a high level and it says something about our senior leadership.”

Solon took the lead back on a Seamus Poynton 19-yard touchdown run with 1:04 left but the Spartan defense had to come up with one final stop.

Senior quarterback Daniel Wright marched Sergeant Bluff-Luton all the way to the Solon 11 with five seconds left but his pass into the endzone was tipped away by Lucas TePoel as time expired.

“We gave up some points but our defense pulled it out and got it done,” Andregg said. “It was really great for our defense.”

The 43-36 win marked the third time this season the Spartans were forced to rally in the second half.

Solon trailed Davenport Assumption 13-3 at the half and was down 20-7 at halftime against Washington.

“When you’ve been in the fire you are battle tested and our kids have been in those types of fights and it’s made us more resilient,” Kevin Miller said. “I really attribute our response to being through some of those environments where we have had to really overcome various adversity.”

Grinding it out: In a game in which both quarterbacks passed for more than 300 yards and combined for 622 yards through the air its easy to forget about the run game.

With its season on the line Solon didn’t forget about the run.

The Spartans had 85 of their 156 rushing yards on the their final two drives of the game.

Senior tailback Seamus Poynton was responsible for 73 of those yards with the final 19 coming on the game-winning touchdown with 1:04 left.

Poynton had 91 of his 112 rushing yards in the second half and accounted for the final 54 yards on three consecutive runs on the go-ahead drive.

The 112 yards came on 11 carries for Poynton and pushed his season total to 732 with a team-high 13 touchdowns.  

Cook Closes Strong Season: Regina junior quarterback Ashton Cook capped a strong season with by going 22-for-30 for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Regals’s semifinal loss to Van Meter.

In his first full season behind center Cook threw for 2,446 yards and 25 touchdowns, the highest passing total for a Regina quarterback since his older brother and current Iowa tight end Drew Cook passed for 2,504 yards in 14 games in 2014.

Offensive performer of the week: Solon senior quarterback Cam Miller had one of his best games in a Spartan uniform when his team needed it the most.

Miller completed 15-of-20 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for 47 yards and a score in a 43-36 win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

Best of the rest: Solon senior AJ Coons caught four passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns in Solon’s semifinal win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

Solon senior receiver Jace Andregg caught eight passes for 157 yards and a touchdown in the 43-36 win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

Regina junior Chase Becker caught seven passes for 113 yards and a touchdown in a 49-17 loss to Van Meter.

Defensive performer of the week: Solon senior linebacker Jax Flynn had a team-high 9.5 tackles in the semifinal win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

The Spartan defense came up with defensive stops on the final two drives of the game to help Solon rally for the 43-36 win.

Best of the rest: Regina sophomore linebacker Aiden Udell had a team-high 9.5 tackles, including eight solo stops, and picked off a pass in a 49-17 loss to Van Meter.

Solon junior Jackson Ryan had three tackles and picked off a pass in the win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

Solon junior Lucas TePoel had five tackles and broke up a pass on the final play of the game to preserve the Solon win.

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