Top-ranked Solon earns a hard-fought 1-point win over No. 3 Mount Vernon

SOLON – It was the hard-fought battle everyone expected.

Solon was able to dodge a late blow from Mount Vernon and survived a top-10 showdown.

Top-ranked Solon edged No. 3 Mount Vernon, 7-6, in a Class 3A non-district prep football clash on Armed Forces Night on Friday at Spartan Stadium.

“It’s a good statement win for us,” Solon senior Eddie Johnson said. “We really hadn’t beaten any big teams this year. We were ranked No. 1 but we needed a good win to say we are up there.”

For that first signature win to come against a rival added to the feat. Solon has won 16 of the last 18 meetings and two straight.

“It’s always been that game circled on our calendars,” Johnson said. “We just try to take it business-like. It’s just like every other game.”

Mount Vernon scored on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Kellen Haverback to Watson Krob with 1:53 left. The ensuing conversion pass was caught but ruled out of bounds. When Solon recovered the onside kick, it secured the victory and 4-0 record.

“They scored and we knew we had to do something here,” Solon’s Maddox Kelley said. “Stopping them by pushing them out (of bounds) was big. Then, we knew coming into the onside kick we had to stop them.”

Mount Vernon Coach Brad Meester said they wanted to go for the win. He didn’t have any second thoughts and they were just inches away from converting and taking a lead.

“We’ll always be aggressive,” Meester said. “In a situation like that, we were going to go for two. We were going to go after it and get the win now. We talked about it as a staff. I have no regrets.”

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Photos: Mount Vernon at Solon high school football

Solon wasted little time putting up points on the opening drive of the game. The Spartans motored 65 yards on six plays, getting a 2-yard touchdown run up the middle from Johnson for a 7-0 lead just 1:59 into the game.

The opening drive was a steady diet of Johnson, who rushed the ball three times for 12 yards and caught a swing pass out of the backfield for a 45-yard gain.

For the game, Johnson amassed 162 yards, including 109 rushing.

“I started pretty well,” Johnson said. “I was getting pretty banged up and started to cramp. Other than that, it was pretty good.”

Johnson’s score was the only one of the first half. Solon’s defense prevented the Mustangs from scoring until their final possession. They bent, allowing Mount Vernon to reach Solon territory on seven of its first drives. They routinely turned them away by not breaking.

Kyler Jensen spearheaded the Spartans defense, tallying a team-high 15 tackles. Kelley had nine stops with two crucial interceptions and Teague Williams added seven.

“Going into this week, Coach Stanton said there is going to be adversity,” Kelley said. “It’s how we react to it. We knew it would happen. They were going to do things like that (move the ball), but we knew we were the better team and we could stop them.”

Mount Vernon put together long drives into Solon territory but stalled out. The first ended with a turnover on downs at the Solon 28. The next stalled at the Spartans 30 after an illegal man downfield penalty wiped out a 25-yard TD pass from Kellen Haverback to Watson Krob.

Kelley spoiled the Mustangs’ third drive picking off a Haverback pass that was tipped and bounced around until he pulled it in at the Solon 14.

“I hit the guy and didn’t know the play was still alive,” Kelley said. “I got up and it was perfect and sitting in my lap. I didn’t have to do anything.”

The Spartans thwarted two more Mount Vernon drives in the third with interceptions. Owen Einwalter grabbed another tipped pass for a pick on the first drive of the second half. Kelley jumped a route for another interception in Solon territory on the following drive.

“We work on that in practice,” Kelley said. “I kind of knew it was coming based on how they were motioning. I cheated and when it happened it wasn’t good for them.”

Seven of Mount Vernon’s eight drives reached Solon territory and resulted in no points. The only one that didn’t was a one-play series that consisted of a kneel down to end the first half.

“We played hard,” Johnson said. “We watched film. We studied up and read our keys. We got after the ball.”

Jase Jaspers had 123 yards for Mount Vernon (3-1), including 102 on the ground. Mount Vernon was down defense lineman and tight end Ethan Wood, who was in street clothes. The Mustangs also dealt with a couple more injuries.

“I’m super proud of this group,” Meester said. “Just how they fought through that and kept battling. One thing we’ve talked about with this group for a long time is we will fight in the second half. When it comes to the fourth quarter, it’s of importance to us. I’m proud of how they fought in the fourth.”

Solon 7, Mount Vernon 6

AT SOLON

MV SOL

First Downs 19 10

Rushes-yards 40-132 31-120

Passing yards 127 98

Comp-att-int 10-22-3 14-17-0

Total yards 259 218

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Punts-avg. 4-30.5 7-28.6

Penalties-yards 4-27 5-50

Mount Vernon 0 0 0 6 -- 6

Solon 7 0 0 0 -- 7

SOL – Eddie Johnson 2 run (Ryan Locke kick)

MV – Watson Krob 65 pass from Kellen Haverback (Pass failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Mount Vernon: Jase Jaspers 22-102, Mikey Ryan 6-31, Cooper Hird 8-29, Haverback 5-(minus 16), Team 1-(minus 14). Solon: Eddie Johnson 23-109, Cole Carney 3-16, Tyler Bell 1-2, Einar Stecher 1-(minus 3), Team 3-(minus 4).

PASSING – Mount Vernon: Haverback 10-22-3-127. Solon: Bell 14-17-0-98.

RECEIVING – Mount Vernon: Krob 3-77, Jaspers 3-21, Ryan 1-17, Hird 2-12, Miles Locke 1-0. Solon: Johnson 2-53, Karsyn Reggenitter 6-26, Cody Millman 1-8, Owen Einwalter 2-6, Eli Kampman 1-4, Maddox Kelley 2-1.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com