Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

DAVENPORT – Solon was anxious to see how it measured up in its non-district finale.

After all, a Thursday game meant a shortened practice week.

Throw in a road game against a fellow top-10 team in Class 3A, and the Spartans were sure to be tested.

Consider the results exemplary.

“It really gives the whole team confidence knowing we can play with anyone in the state,” Solon standout junior quarterback Blake Timmons said after the third-ranked Spartans routed No. 9 Davenport Assumption, 38-10, at the new football stadium on the Assumption campus. “Because Assumption is a great team and they have some dudes on the team.”

Solon (4-0) struck first and struck quick when Timmons split the Assumption defense with a strike to senior receiver Jake Quillin, who raced 62 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Spartan advantage.

“The play before, the safety went over with the outside wide receiver and I was wide open up the seam,” Quillin said. “So, we ran the same play again and Blake hit me and we scored.”

After the Solon defense stuffed Assumption on its first three plays, Timmons and company went back to work on offense.

A methodical 11-play, 77-yard drive comprised largely of runs by Timmons and junior tailback Sean Stahle eventually ended in the end zone with a second Timmons-to-Quillen TD connection, this time from 12 yards away.

Midway through the opening stanza, it was 14-0. Solon.

“That was really fun,” Quillen said. “That was what our coach said before the game. ‘Once we start, we have just got to step on the gas’ and that is what we did. Blake threw two perfect passes and we were up by 14 right away.”

Both teams exchanged field goals before Solon took possession of the ball at its 46-yard-line with 5:26 until halftime.

The Spartans churned out a second 11-play scoring drive, capped by a seven-yard scoring burst by Stahle and a 24-3 Solon lead.

The purposeful charge left Assumption with just 67 second on the first half clock, which afforded the Knights no chance to cut into the lead before the teams adjourned to their respective locker rooms.

“We like to go fast and we like to tempo teams,” second-year Solon Coach Lucas Stanton said. “But we also have done a really good job of knowing when we have got them where we want them and kind of just grind that out, too. Things we have done with the run game last year up to this year allows us to do that.”

Any thoughts of an Assumption second-half comeback were quickly extinguished when the Solon defense forced the Knights to punt after just three plays on the first possession of the second half.

“We have been preparing really hard for them,” Solon senior linebacker Carson Miller said. “Because we know they are a tough team, they are physical and we would have to match that physicality. I am really proud of the guys tonight.”

Solon extended the lead to 31-3 with 7:28 left in the third quarter via a two-yard TD run by Stahle, his second of the game.

The four-touchdown advantage prevented Assumption (2-2) from leaning on its bruising senior tailback John Argo, who entered the contest averaging 111 yards on the ground per game. Against the Spartans, Argo managed just seven yards in five carries in the first half, and the majority of his team-high 62 yards arrived after the outcome was long determined.

“Argo is a tough back,” Miller said. “We just knew we would have to come up hard because we knew he would be coming hard, too, and we would have to fill our gaps. I think we did a really nice job of that tonight.”

Miller concluded the scoring for Solon on the first play of the fourth quarter when he caught a two-yard TD pass from Timmons on 4th and goal.

Timmons finished with 197 yards passing, 97 rushing and three passing TDs.

Stahle ran for 89 yards in addition to his two TDs, while Quillen snared four receptions for 61 yards.

“The (offensive) line was doing a great job,” Timmons said. “We had a couple of guys out and two new guys stepped up and they were doing a great job. They deserve a lot of the credit.”

A lot of folks were unsure what to expect from Solon given the graduation losses after last season. But the Spartans have emerged from a challenging non-district schedule unblemished with a full head of steam heading into the start of district play Sep. 24 at home against West Burlington.

“That is great momentum going into it,” Stanton said. “Our motto all year has been, ‘We are going to take it one game at a time. One day at a time. One week at a time.’ I know that is really cliche. Every coach says that, but we do have a young, inexperienced team, so that is what we really wanted to do. Not look too far ahead.”

                                    SOL                DA

First Downs                17                    8

Rushes-yards              48-232             23-75

Comp-Att-Int              13-18-0           8-16-0

Passing yards              214                  80

Total yards                  446                  155

Punts-avg.                   1-21.0              4-32.0

Fumbles-lost               0-0                   1-0

Penalties-yards           5-50                 2-20

Solon                                              14  10  7  7  –  38

Davenport Assumption           3     0   7  0  –  10

SOL – Jake Quillin 62 pass from Blake Timmons (Brent Lumpkin kick)

SOL – Quillin 12 pass from Timmons (Lumpkin kick)

DA – Billy Moore 43 field goal

SOL – Lumpkin 24 field goal

SOL – Sean Stahle 7 run (Lumpkin kick)

SOL – Stahle 2 run (Lumpkin kick)

DA – Ayden Weiman 4 run (Moore kick)

SOL – Carson Miller 2 pass from Timmons (Lumpkin kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Solon: Blake Timmons 12-93, Sean Stahle 22-89, Mike Pipolo 2-9, Mac McCarty 5-19, Tino Longo 1-5, Oliver Burns 6-16. Davenport Assumption: Ayden Weiman 5-3, Derrick Bass 1-11, John Argo 14-62, Foster Caspers 1-0, Angelo Jackson 1-(-1), Antonio Chase Diaz 1-0.

PASSING – Solon: Blake Timmons 12-17-0 197, Brayden Ruskey 1-1-0 17. Davenport Assumption: Ayden Weiman 8-16-0-80.

RECEIVING – Solon: Brady Mullen 2-21, Jake Qullin 4-81, Sean Stahle 1-1, Trin Eidahl 2-49, Oaken Foster 1-31, Carson Miller 2-13, Ryan Rasmussen 1-17. Davenport Assumption: David Neuberger 3-20, John Argo 1-32, Foster Caspers 3-5, Angelo Jackson 1-23.

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