Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

What makes a rivalry?

Proximity? Familiarity?

Competitiveness, fan interest, intrigue, success of the teams involved?

Whatever it is that turns the average annual contest into a riveting rivalry showdown chances are the yearly matchup between Regina and Solon has it.

“It’s certainly a rivalry game, there is no doubt about that,” Solon coach Kevin Miller said. “It’s a rivalry and it has a lot of those elements that make it that type of game.”

The traditional state powers will meet again on Friday when Class 3A No. 4 Solon (1-0) and 1A top-ranked Regina (0-1) clash at Spartan Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

What makes the matchup between two of the best programs in the state into one of the best rivalries around?

All the elements for a rivalry are present.  

• Success: Two traditional powerhouse programs, Solon and Regina have combined for 10 state titles over the past decade in three different classes.
• Proximity: The two eastern Iowa football giants are located a little more than 10 miles apart.
• Competitiveness: Regina has won six times and Solon four in the last 10 meets.

In a series that possess all the ingredients of a rivalry one thing stands out – the familiarity.

“It’s a rivalry that has been built up over the years, we’ve been playing those guys since we were little,” Regina senior Jake Phillips said. “It’s really fun to be able to play teams that we know are always going to be great competition.”

Forget the football matchups the two teams have had since junior high, this rivalry goes well beyond that.

Despite competing in different classes in virtually every sport and belonging to different conferences (Regina is in the River Valley Conference and Solon the WAMAC) the two Johnston Country rivals play regularly in almost every sport with most of those meetings starting in junior high or before.

“It’s not just football, we play them in baseball, basketball, track we see them all the time,” Regina coach Marv Cook said. “Being nine miles apart it makes for a great rivalry.”

The rivalries that start in youth sports ramp up in high school.

Regina and Solon meet annually in basketball, soccer and baseball, attend the same track and cross country meets and cross paths occasionally on the wrestling mat.

By the time the playes are seniors they know each other and know each other well.

“It’s been a rivalry going on since we’ve been little kids,” Regina senior Isaac Vollstedt said. “We’ve been watching teams take on Solon and just being able to play in that game is something special.”

That familiarity adds an element to one of the most anticipated football games of the season for both sides.

“We see them all the time in every sport so it’s a rivalry between two schools not just two football teams and that makes it fun,” Solon senior lineman Zach Wegmann said. “It’s a fun rivalry to be a part of.”

With both teams feature rosters full of multi-sport athletes early every player that steps on the field on Friday has faced the opposing side in another varsity sport.

Vollstedt is a starter on Regina's soccer team that edged Solon in the state quarterfinals on its way to the 1A quarterfinals and Phillips a starter on the Regina basketball team that faces Solon each season.

Solon senior lineman Tyler Linderbaum helped the Spartans to a win over Regina on the baseball diamond last season.

“We always had a good competition with them in baseball, basketball or football,” Linderbaum said. “t’s always competitive when we play them and that’s why we like playing them.”

The annual football meeting has become the crown jewel of the rivalry with Regina winning the previous two meetings including a 34-0 win at Regina last season.

Solon won the last meeting at Spartan Stadium 29-28 in overtime in 2014.

“We don’t want to lose to them and I’m sure they don’t want to lose to us,”  Linderbaum said. “It’s fun playing them, they are a good team and we are looking forward to it.”