Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Solon (10-1) vs. Williamsburg (10-1)

Where: UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Last season: Williamsburg 38, Solon 25

Previous meeting: Solon 21, Williamsburg 14 (Week 7)

Player to watch: Williamsburg senior Derek Weisskopf (6-3, 210) is a threat anywhere he lines up on the field. The Iowa recruit has passed for 606 yards and 14 touchdowns, rushed for 273 yards and two touchdowns, caught 14 passes for 212 yards and four touchdowns, ranks second on the team with 47 tackles and has two interceptions.

Key stat: Solon held Williamsburg to 27 rushing yards and 1 yard per carry in the regular season meeting between these two teams. On the season Williamsburg averages 149 rushing yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry.

About the Spartans: Solon returns to the UNI-Dome for the second time in the past three seasons after a come-from-behind 36-35 win over West Delaware in the quarterfinals last Friday.

Saturday’s semifinal is a rematch of a week-seven regular season contest won by Solon 21-14 at Spartan Stadium.

This will be the fifth meeting between the two WAMAC opponents since 2020 with the teams splitting the previous four matchups.

Solon enters the semifinal riding a 10-game winning streak in which it has held opponents to 11.7 points per game.

The Spartans have been strong defensively all season holding teams to 13.2 points and 240 total yards per game.

Solon has been especially stingy against the run, limiting teams to 92 yards per game on the ground and has held eight of its last 10 opponents under 100 yards rushing.

Senior linebacker Brett White (6-0, 210) leads Solon with 97.5 tackles including a team-high 23 tackles for loss and five sacks.

Brayden Moore (5-9, 185) has 40 tackles with seven for loss and senior safety Jack McCarty (5-10, 175) has 36 tackles with three for loss.

Solon has forced 25 turnovers in 11 games with senior defensive back Austin Knight (6-3, 185) leading the team with four interceptions.

Led by junior quarterback Ty Bell (6-1, 180) the Solon offense is averaging 31.7 points and 301 total yards per game.

Bell has passed for 1,210 yards and 13 touchdowns with five interceptions and has gone five games without throwing an interception.

Senior Grant Knipper (6-0, 175) leads the team with 24 receptions for 327 yards and a touchdown, senior Nash Kotar (6-1, 185) has 22 receptions for 296 yards and three touchdowns and White has caught 10 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns.

Sophomore Conlan Poynton (5-10, 175) has rushed for a team-high 904 yards and 13 touchdowns and junior Eddie Johnson (6-1, 205) has added 357 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

About the Raiders: Williamsburg secured a third consecutive semifinal appearance with a 38-35 quarterfinal win over Mount Vernon last Friday in Williamsburg.

The Class 2A runner-up last season, Williamsburg is appearing in the semifinals for the fourth time in the past five seasons in its first season moving up to Class 3A.

Since a 21-14 loss at Solon in week seven the Raiders have won four consecutive games by a combined score of 152-50, a stretch that includes playoff wins over Humboldt and Mount Vernon.

Williamsburg has been among the best defensive teams in Class 3A this season holding opponents to 14.5 points and 225 total yards per game while allowing 4.5 yards per play.

The Raiders are giving up 115 rushing yards per game on just 3.6 yards per carry.

Junior linebacker Rayce Heitman (6-1, 175) leads the Raiders with 94.5 tackles including 18.5 for loss and 5.5 sacks while junior Micah Lang (6-1, 190) has 32 tackles with a team-high 13.5 sacks among 17.5 tackles for loss.

Junior Derek Weisskopf (6-3, 210) has 47 tackles and two interceptions as the Raiders have intercepted 16 passes in 11 games returning five for touchdowns.

Weisskopf and senior Kellen Cockrell (6-4, 195) have shared time at quarterback this season.

Weisskopf was the starter in the quarterfinal win over Mount Vernon and has completed 19-of-29 passes for 231 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions in two postseason wins.

The Iowa recruit has also rushed for 164 yards on 22 carries in wins over Humboldt and Mount Vernon.

On the season Weisskopf has completed 42-of-73 passes for 606 yards and 14 touchdowns with three interceptions while Cockrell has thrown for 1,179 yards with 23 touchdowns and four interceptions.

The Raiders are averaging 40.3 points and 322 total yards per game this season while averaging 6.6 yards per play.

Williamsburg is averaging 149 rushing yards per game led by junior Nile Sinn (5-10, 165) who has rushed for 850 yards and seven touchdowns.

Weisskopf has added 273 yards and two touchdowns.

Clayten Steckley (6-0, 175) is the top receiving option with 40 receptions for 559 yards and 10 touchdowns while senior Braylon Wetjen (6-0, 175) has caught 28 passes for 524 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Heitman has 24 receptions for 330 yards and eight touchdowns.

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