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Solon was impressive on both offense and defense during a five-game winning streak to close out the regular season.

The Spartans used an early boost from a couple of big plays on special teams to roll past Oelwein in its playoff opener on Friday.

Sean Stahle returned the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown and Solon recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that led to another score in a 41-12 win in a Class 2A second-round contest at Spartan Stadium in Solon.

Blake Timmons ran for a touchdown and threw for a score as seventh-ranked Solon improved to 6-2 with its sixth consecutive win.

The Spartans will learn their third-round opponent when the Iowa High School Athletic Association releases its second set of playoff pairings on Saturday at Noon.

Oelwein rushed for 262 yards but couldn’t overcome the early special teams struggles and finished the season 3-6.

Stahle scooped up a bouncing ball on the opening kickoff and raced 81 yards down the sideline to give Solon an early lead it would never give up.

On the ensuing kickoff Oelwein couldn’t handle a squib kick and Solon recovered.

Timmons turned the early turnover into points when he scored on a 26-yard touchdown run to put the Spartans up 13-0.

Jackson Ryan added a 3-yard touchdown run and Colton Hoffman hauled in a 38-yard pass from Timmons in the second quarter as Solon built a 27-0 halftime lead.

Timmons finished 9-of-14 passes for 157 yards and also rushed for a team-high 57 yards as Solon finished with 306 yards of total offense.

Hoffman caught five passes for 119 yards and a score and added a 15-yard run.

Solon tacked on second-half touchdowns on runs of 13 yards by Carson Miller and 1 yard by Hayden Taylor to put the game away.

Isaac Opperman rushed for 119 yards on 27 carries for Oelwein in replace of starter Gage Voshell who had 82 yards on five carries before leaving the game in the first half with an injury.

At Spartans Stadium

                                    SOL                OEL

First downs                 17                    19

Rushes-yards              29-149             55-262

Comp-Att-Int              9-14-2             2-3-0

Passing yards              157                  18

Total yards                  306                  280

Punts-avg                    2-28.5              5-20

Fumbles-lost               0-0                   3-3

Penalties-yards           7-55                 5-40

Solon              13   14   7   7  –  41

Oelwein          0     0    6   6  –  12

SOL – Sean Stahle 81 kick off return (Brent Lumpkin kick)

SOL – Blake Timmons 26 run (Kick failed)

SOL – Jackson Ryan 3 run (Lumpkin kick)

SOL – Colton Hoffman 38 pass from Timmons (Lumpkin kick)

SOL – Carson Miller 13 run (Lumpkin kick)

OEL – Isaac Opperman 16 run (Run failed)

SOL – Hayden Taylor 1 run (Lumpkin kick)

OEL – Isaac Opperman 7 run (Run failed)

RUSHING – Solon: Blake Timmons 5-57, Carson Miller 5-32, Jackson Ryan 10-20, Hayden Taylor 5-18, Colton Hoffman 1-15, Sean Stahle 2-9, Kinnick Pusteoska 1-(-2). Oelwein: Isaac Opperman 27-119, Gage Voshell 5-82, Duncan Tripp 12-25, Leighton Patterson 4-21, Jacob King 1-9, Austin Perry 1-3, Carsen Jeanes 4-3.

PASSING – Solon: Blake Timmons 9-14-2 157. Oelwein: Jacob King 2-3-0 18.

RECEIVING – Solon: Colton Hoffman 5-119, Carson Miller 3-22, Ben Cusick 1-16. Oelwein: Jonathan Buehler 1-12, Isaac Opperman 1-6.

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