Benton upsets No. 1 Solon after frenetic 4th quarter

VAN HORNE — Benton Community leaned on its running game until it was time to take a shot downfield.

It was a shot they’ll be talking about in Van Horne for some time.

“Just ran my route and did what I was supposed to do,” Benton senior receiver Logan Upah said after his 66-yard touchdown reception with 1:10 left in the game helped the Bobcats upset Class 3A No. 1 Solon, 21-20, in a District 5 cliffhanger Friday night at Benton Community High School. “Safety dropped, threw a perfect ball. Can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Before the game-winning touchdown, Benton junior quarterback Carson Nolan had completed just five passes for 29 yards, almost always near the line of scrimmage. After two incompletions that left his team with a third-and-10 and six-point deficit, Nolan let one fly.

“We knew not to panic,” Nolan said. “We practice these situations all the time. I knew that they were going to bite down on that and he was going to be open.”

The touchdown capped a frenetic fourth-quarter sequence that began with the Benton defense registering a fourth-down stop at its own 1-yard line to preserve a 14-12 lead with 5:10 to go.

“I thought we did a really good job trying to take away what they do,” Benton Co-Coach Jeff Zittergruen said. “They are really good offensively. They have the ability to run the ball, throw the ball. I thought our kids battled.”

Solon (5-1, 1-1 District 5) appeared to be on the verge of keeping its unbeaten record intact when it recovered a fourth-down fumble at the Benton 26-yard line with 2:29 left. Two plays later, an 18-yard touchdown run by senior Eddie Johnson — on just his second rushing attempt of the game due to injury — put the Spartans up, 20-14.

“We told them, ‘Stay composed, go down and score,’” Zittergruen said. “We were able to do that.”

Benton (4-2, 1-1) led for much of the contest thanks to the running attack of senior tailback Dylan LeFebvere, who ran for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

“It took a lot to pull out,” LeFebvere said. “Coaches were great. All this week, our whole team was just together. We knew we could do it.”

Benton will host Grinnell next Friday.

Senior quarterback Ty Bell threw for 287 yards and accounted for two touchdowns for the Spartans, who visit No. 3 Williamsburg next week.

“Just like any other game, we come in Sunday, we’ll watch the film from this,” Solon Coach Lucas Stanton said. “We’ll move forward. It’s as simple as that.”

Benton Community 21, Solon 20

AT VAN HORNE

SOL BC

First Downs 18 11

Rushes-yards 39-114 35-218

Comp-Att-Int 19-33-0 6-14-0

Passing yards 287 95

Total yards 401 313

Punts-avg. 4-31.5 6-37.3

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1

Penalties-yards 3-20 7-51

Solon 6 0 6 8—20

Benton Community 7 0 7 7—21

BC – Dylan LeFebvere 3 run (Elijah Kupka kick)

SOL – Ty Bell 3 run (kick blocked)

SOL – Owen Einwalter 51 pass from Ty Bell (pass failed)

BC – Dylan LeFebvere 3 run (Elijah Kupka kick)

SOL – Eddie Johnson 18 run (Eddie Johnson run)

BC – Logan Upah 66 pass from Carson Nolan (Elijah Kupka kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – Solon: Cole Carney 11-43, Ty Bell 7-16, Eddie Johnson 2-19, Einar Stecher 19-36; Benton Community: Brody Timmerman 3-23, Carson Nolan 10-38, Dylan LeFebvere 18-149, Elias Bieschke 4-8.

PASSING – Solon: Ty Bell 19-33-0-287; Benton Community: Carson Nolan 6-14-0-95.

RECEIVING – Solon: Karsyn Regennitter 7-64, Maddox Kelley 8-122, Eli Kampman 3-50, Owen Einwalter 1-51; Benton Community: Logan Upah 1-66, Brody Timmerman 4-24, Evan Martin 1-5.