Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – The moment the postseason pairings were released the same thing stood out to everyone at Solon.

A potential playoff rematch with Mount Vernon.

The only thing standing in the way of another shot at the second-ranked Mustangs which snapped a 19-game losing streak to Solon earlier this season with a 17-14 week-two win at Spartan Stadium was an opening-round match with WAMAC rival West Delaware.

“Saturday as soon as our guys saw the pairings they said ‘we have to focus on West Delaware and go 1-0’,” Solon coach Lucas Stanton said. “You get into playoff football and it is about going 1-0 every week.”

Seventh-ranked Solon (8-2) got to 1-0 in the postseason with an emphatic 48-12 win over West Delaware (5-5) on Friday.

Now the Spartans get their rematch.

“This week people talked about this maybe being a trap game with Mount Vernon coming up and I didn’t even mention Mount Vernon,” Stanton said. “I just said we are only going to focus on West Delaware and the kids got the message.”

Solon intercepted four passes, returning one for a touchdown and another to the 1 yard line and rushed for 272 yards in its opening-round win over West Delaware.

Senior safety Blake Timmons picked off two passes and linebackers Brett White and Mac McCarty each had one pick for Solon which has forced 25 turnovers in 10 games.

“Communication is the biggest part of our defense, knowing where their best guys are at and working to that side and covering those guys up,” McCarty said. “We study a bunch every Sunday and Monday and that’s a big part of it.”

With one WAMAC opponent out of the way the Spartans can focus on another.

Mount Vernon (10-0) advanced to the 3A quarterfinals with a 23-9 win over Central DeWitt on Friday, its second victory over the Sabers in three weeks.

The Mustangs ran 77 offensive plays and finished with 305 total yards in a 17-14 win at Solon on September 2 that ended a 19-game losing streak to the Spartans.

Solon gets a shot at redemption on Friday in Mount Vernon with a trip to the state semifinals in the UNI-Dome on the line.

“Now it’s not getting overly excited,” Stanton said. “They can get excited but when we start on Sunday and our work and preparation and scout we have to approach it as just another game. We want to go 1-0 this week. Yes, there is a little more juice to it but if we get too high we aren’t going to play our best football. When we focus on what it takes to win a football and prepare the right way we are a pretty good football team.”

News and Notes

OT Unkind to City High: The statistics from City High’s opening-round 38-31 overtime loss to Johnston are staggering.

City High outgained the Dragons by 225 yards (550 to 325), had a 309 to 53 edge in rushing yards and ran 39 more offensive plays than Johnston (84-45).

However, City High was undone by three turnovers and 14 penalties for 140 yards in the season ending loss.

No Running Allowed: Among the most impressive season statistics for area teams is City High’s ability to keep opposing teams out of the endzone on run plays.

City High didn’t allowing a rushing touchdown in any of its six wins this season and held seven of 10 opponents without a rushing score.

The Little Hawks gave up nine rushing scores in 10 games this season allowing four in losses to West Des Moines Dowling and Pleasant Valley and one in the season opener to Liberty High.

Undefeated tracker: Entering the quarterfinal matchups on Friday 17 undefeated teams remain across the seven classes.

There are three undefeated teams in Class 4A, one in 3A, two in 2A, two in 1A, five in Class A and three in eight-player.

West Branch (10-0) is the lone remaining unbeaten team in the Your Prep Sports area and joins Underwood (10-0) as the only other unbeaten in Class 1A.

The lone quarterfinal matchup between two unbeatens comes in Class A where AHSTA (10-0) visits Lynnville-Sully (10-0).

Big Game for Gregoire Brothers: Trey and Garrett Gregoire have been big parts of the success for fourth-ranked Liberty High this season each playing key roles on both sides of the ball.

The Gregoire brothers came up big again on Friday in a 24-14 win over Webster City.

Garrett Gregoire had five receptions for 33 yards and rushed for 10 yards and made three tackles and recovered a fumble.

Brother Trey Gregoire had five tackles and an interception on defense, caught a pass and rushed for 22 yards and a touchdown.

Timmons Time: The postseason seems to be bringing out the best in Solon do-everything senior Blake Timmons.

Timmons had another productive all-around game in an opening-round win over West Delaware on Friday.

The senior quarterback/safety rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown and passing for 55 yards on offense to go with a career-high 11 tackles and two interceptions on defense.

Timmons also averaged 42.3 yards on three punts and returned a kickoff 48 yards.

Henson Keeps Chugging: West Branch senior two-way star Andy Henson continued his stellar season with another 100-yard rushing effort in a quarterfinal win over Waterloo Columbus on Friday.

Henson rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns against the Sailors to up his season totals to 1,354 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns.

Henson also had a team-high nine tackles in the win over Columbus and punted five times with a 36 yard average.

Players of the week

Offensive Player of the Week: City High junior quarterback Drew Larson put the finishing touches on a breakthrough season with a strong effort in a quarterfinal loss to Johnston.

Larson completed 30-of-44 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for a career-high 139 yards in the 38-31 overtime loss.

Defensive Player of the Week: An offensive playmaker for the past three seasons Solon senior Blake Timmons to continues to make his mark as a standout in the defensive backfield.

Timmons had a career-high 11 tackles including seven solo stops and added a pair of interceptions returning one for a touchdown in a 42-18 win over West Delaware.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Liberty High senior place kicker Hayden Saul made all three PAT attempts and had a 29-yard field goal in a 24-14 win over Webster City.

Helmet Stickers

Offense: West Branch senior quarterback Tye Hughes completed 10-of-18 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 55 yards in a 27-14 win over Waterloo Columbus.

Offense: Liberty High junior quarterback Graham Beckman completed 16-of-24 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 95 yards in a 24-14 win over Webster City.

Defense: West Branch senior defensive lineman Aiden Dingbaum had 3.5 tackles including two for loss and a sack in a 27-14 win over Waterloo Columbus.

Defense: Solon senior linebacker Mac McCarty had5.5 tackles including a tackle for loss and returned an interception 41 yards to the one yard line in a 42-18 win over West Delaware.

Defense: Liberty High senior defensive back Amari Thigpen had 9.5 tackles including two tackles for loss in a 24-14 win over Webster City.

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