Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

It is often said when it comes to rivalry games the records and the rankings go right out the window.

The annual tussle between Eastern Iowa powerhouse programs Regina and Solon ranks among the top rivalries in Iowa so we will abide by that old adage and toss the records and rankings aside.

Instead here are five keys that will help determine who walks away with a win when Class 1A top-ranked Regina (0-1) and 3A No. 4 Solon (1-0) clash at Spartan Stadium on Friday.

Hanging On

We start with the most obvious and perhaps most important factor – the turnover battle.

It’s hardly a revelation to include limiting turnovers as a key factor in determining the outcome of a football game but for the past two seasons turnovers have been devastating for Solon.

Solon has turned it over 10 times in back-to-back losses to Regina including three in last year’s 34-0 loss.

Turnovers have been a big reason the Spartans have managed a combined13 points in the previous two meetings with Regina and have run 38 fewer offensive plays than the Regals during those games.

“The big thing that we need to do that we haven’t done the last two years is value the football,” Solon coach Kevin Miller said. “We have turned the football over at critical moments especially early on in the football game and we can’t do that this year. We have to play clean. If you want to beat a team like Regina you have to play clean.”

Solon didn’t commit a turnover in a week one win against Mount Vernon while Regina had three in a season-opening loss to Xavier.

Punching It In

It didn’t show up on the scoreboard but the Regina offense wasn’t exactly silent last week against Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Regina got 160 rushing yards from 200-pound tailback Isaac Vollstedt. Senior Michal Conlon completed 21 passes for 149 yards. The Regals had more total yards and first downs than the Saints.

What Regina didn’t do was put the ball in the end zone when it had the chance.

Regina had two trips inside the Xavier 10 yard line without points and got inside the Saints 35 five times but scored on just one.

Finishing drives is going to be critical against a Solon defense coming off a shutout of Mount Vernon.

“I think the main key is just finishing off drives,” Vollstedt said. “Getting in the red zone and not being able to capitalize hurts the team a lot and I think if we just work on finishing our drives we will be better off this week.”

Going Long

The last time Solon won in the series the Spartans got a big boost from a big play, an 83-yard punt return for a score by running back Brandon Kramer.

In the past two meetings with Regina the explosive plays from the Spartans have been few and far between.

Solon averaged 6.3 yards per snap in its 29-28 overtime win in 2014.

In the past two meetings Regina has limited the Spartans to 2.9 yards per offensive play while allowing Solon just 13 points.  

“We just don’t make big plays against them, they don’t have breakdowns,” Miller said. “Some of that is our lack of execution but it’s more to do with their execution and their preparation and they have done a great job. We have to do better.”

While the Regina defense has virtually eliminated the big play the Regal offense has put up plenty.
Regina has four scoring plays of more than 30 yards in its last two wins over Solon including touchdowns of 84 and 55 yards last season.

Battle of the Big Guys

For as long as these two teams have been playing the game seems to swing toward the side that controls the line of scrimmage.

There has been a history of strong line play in the series and that should continue this season as the likes of Solon’s Tyler Linderbaum and Zach Wegmann square off with Regina lineman like Luke Stein, Alex Moore and Steve Sehl.

“They are always a big, physical team that is good up front and comes right at you,” Wegmann said. “They are a zone team, it comes down to playing hard and playing physical and our keys should take us to the ball.”

The team with more rushing yards has won six straight in the series and Regina has outgained Solon 450 to 147 on the ground in back-to-back wins.

Solon will need to hold Regina under the 280 yards it allowed on the ground last season to keep up and that starts with Linderbaum, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound Iowa recruit.

“The Linderbaum kid is a bear in there,” Regina coach Marv Cook said. “You see him immediately when you turn on the film, he’s a load and he does a good job obviously he’s going to set the tempo for that team.”

Settling In

Cam Miller did everything that was asked of him in his first varsity start.

The Solon sophomore quarterback and son of head coach Kevin Miller, completed 5-of-13 passes for 64 yards, rushed for 13 yards and played turnover-free football in a 19-0 win over Mount Vernon last week.

The younger Miller will likely be asked to do a little more starting this week as the Spartans face a stout Regina front seven.

“He didn’t compromise our offense, didn’t turn it over and did the things that we asked him to do,” Kevin Miller said. “Does he want to make more plays? Yeah, he wants to make more plays, he was frustrated a little bit with my play calling and I take responsibility for that. He understands that he just wants to be more involved in the offense and he is going to have to continue to play into that as we move forward within our offense.”