Solon blanks Marion in the mud

MARION - Until Friday night, circumstances kept Tanner Wymer from playing on a muddy field.

Usually, it was good weather. Sometimes, it was an artificial surface.

'You grow up and you see games like this on TV,” said the Solon High School lineman. 'You want to play in a game like this. It was a good time.”

A great time for the Spartans, particularly on defense.

Solon forced seven turnovers and allowed just 128 yards and sent Marion to its 12th consecutive defeat, 35-0, in a Class 3A District 4 contest at Thomas Park Field.

'We needed to shake last week off,” said Solon Coach Kevin Miller, referring to a 22-19 loss to Cedar Rapids Xavier, in which the Spartans surrendered a 12-point fourth-quarter lead. 'We did a good job being fundamentally sound. And our defense was outstanding all night.”

For the second time this season, weather played a Friday-night factor. This game was originally scheduled for 7:15 p.m., but moved up to 5 due to to a stormy forecast. Lightning struck at 4:51, forcing a 30-minute setback.

The game began at 5:31, then featured another 30-minute delay late in the first quarter.

Rain ranged from intermittent sprinkles to a downpour throughout the game.

Through it all, the Spartans (2-2 overall, 1-1 district) were suffocating.

'Everybody needs to do their job and make plays,” Wymer said. 'And we did that.”

Both teams were liberal with their ball security. The Indians (0-4, 0-1) fumbled it seven times (losing three) and threw four interceptions.

Solon surrendered three picks and a fumble.

The Spartans built a 14-0 lead before the delay on a pair of short TD runs by Brandan Childs, who shared quarterback duties with Blayze Griffis. It stayed 14-0 at halftime.

'I thought our defense played outstanding,” said Marion Coach Tony Perkins. 'To give up 14 points in the first half to that team, with how powerful and how fast they are, that's great.”

Bo Black got free up the middle for a 49-yard touchdown on the second play of the second half to extend the margin to 21-0, then Nathaniel Christensen added a 17-yard scoring run.

Matt Roeder's 8-yard interception return capped the scroring late in the fourth quarter.

Solon didn't rack up huge offensive numbers (a modest 291 yards in all), but did display a balanced running attack with five backs netting 40 yards or more. Childs led with 66 yards on 16 carries.

Kory Walsh ran for 90 yards on 13 carries for Marion; 77 of those yards came on two plays.

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