Williamsburg pulls away from Solon as Hocker-to-Heitman combo keeps churning out the touchdowns

WILLIAMSBURG — The most prolific passing duo in Iowa high school football?

Hocker-to-Heitman has a nice ring to it.

The all-class state leader in touchdown passes, Grant Hocker threw five of them Friday night. Three of them went to Rayce Heitman, the all-class state leader in touchdown receptions.

That, and a pivotal early fourth-down stop by Trenton Davies led second-ranked Williamsburg to a 42-13 Class 3A District 5 romp over No. 5 Solon at Bob Murphy Stadium.

“He trusts me to go get the ball,” Heitman said after pushing his TD-reception total to 19. “And I trust him to make the throws.”

Williamsburg (6-1 overall, 3-0 district) outscored the Spartans 21-0 in the second half to pull away. The Raiders were effective both on the ground (215 yards, 102 by Nile Sinn) and through the air (206 yards and those five TD passes by Hocker).

“(Heitman) and me, we’ve been playing together in high school, in junior high and before,” said Hocker, who has thrown for 34 touchdowns this season, against two interceptions. “We have a chemistry like no other.

“He’s one of one. He’s unguardable.”

Even with all of those scoring connections, you can make the argument that the play of the game came from a defensive lineman named Trenton Davies.

Trailing 7-6, Solon (5-2, 1-2) was poised to take the lead late in the first quarter, with first-and-goal at the 3.

That turned into fourth down from the 1 when the teams made the long journey downfield at the end of the quarter.

Then, Davies met Eddie Johnson in the backfield for a 4-yard loss.

“Coach (Curt Ritchie) wanted us to stay low, stop that counter,” Davies said. “I busted through, and our line got good push.”

Ritchie said, “I was hoping to get a turnover there. It wasn’t a turnover there, but it was the next best thing.”

Four plays after that, Hocker located Nile Sinn in the middle of the field, and Sinn did the rest for a 67-yard touchdown reception.

Instead of a potential 13-7 deficit, Williamsburg led 14-6.

It was 21-13 at halftime, then all Raiders after that.

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Photos: Solon at Williamsburg high school football

For Solon, Johnson scored on first-half touchdown runs of 3 and 80 yards and finished with 154 yards on 22 carries.

Last year, Solon topped Williamsburg in the regular season, then the Raiders turned the tables on the Spartans in the state semifinals, and went on win the 3A championship.

So they know they might not have seen the last of the Spartans.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw them again,” Heitman said. “So we’ve got to be ready.”

But for now ...

“This was a huge win to show that we’re legit,” Hocker said. “I think we’re the best team in the state, and we showed that tonight.”

Williamsburg is at Grinnell next week; Solon hosts Fairfield.

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Williamsburg 42, Solon 13

At Williamsburg

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: SOL 15, WMSBG 18

Rushes-yards: SOL 36-192, WMSBG 38-215

Passing yards: SOL 106, WMSBG 206

Passing: SOL 12-22-1, WMSBG 10-16-1

Total yards: SOL 298, WMSBG 421

Fumbles-lost: SOL 1-1, WMSBG 0-0

Punts-average: SOL 5-36.0, WMSBG 2-28.0

Penalties-yards: SOL 9-99, WMSBG 8-60

SCORING SUMMARY

Solon 6 7 0 0 — 13

Williamsburg 7 14 7 14 — 42

W -- Cael Moore 10 pass from Grant Hocker (Colby McMullin kick)

S -- Eddie Johnson 3 run (kick failed)

W -- Nile Sinn 67 pass from Grant Hocker (McMullin kick)

W -- Rayce Heitman 15 pass from Hocker (McMullin kick)

S -- Eddie Johnson 80 run (Collin McKie kick)

W -- Grady Wetjen 65 run (McMullin kick)

W -- Heitman 7 pass from Hocker (McMullin kick)

W -- Heitman 4 pass from Hocker (McMullin kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Solon — Eddie Johnson 22-154, Einar Stecher 5-30, Maddox Kelley 4-19, Owen Einwalter 1-(minus 1), Ty Bell 4-(minus 10). Williamsburg — Nile Sinn 22-102, Grady Wetjen 5-67, Rayce Heitman 3-39, Grant Hocker 5-10, Albert Mabrick 3-(minus 3).

Passing

Solon — Bell 12-22-1-106. Williamsburg — Hocker 10-16-1-206.

Receiving

Solon — Kelley 4-40, Einwalter 4-37, Eli Kampman 2-29, Karsyn Regenniter 1-11, Tripp Johnson 1-(minus 2). Williamsburg — Heitman 4-47, John Eichhorn 2-53, Sinn 1-67, Wetjen 1-23, Cael Moore 1-10.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com