Solon's unforgettable ride continues

CEDAR FALLS - They've climbed another summit. They've crossed another frontier.The Solon Spartans have made history.Fourth-ranked Solon dominated in all facets of the game and destroyed No. 5 Sioux City Heelan, 45-7, to win its fourth consecutive state football championship, claiming the Class 3A title Saturday afternoon at the UNI-Dome.No team had won four in a row since Iowa implemented the playoff system in 1972. Not until now.“Right now, I don't think I can put it into words,” said Solon Coach Kevin Miller. “I've been very fortunate and blessed to coach such great kids.”The Spartans (13-1) finished the season with 12 straight victories. The program's four-year record is 54-1.Solon won three consecutive Class 2A titles from 2007 through 2009. Rising enrollment bumped them up to 3A this year.And the winning continued.“This year's seniors had three strikes against them,” Miller said. “They were behind a great senior class last year. They were following (the footsteps of) James Morris. And they moved up to 3A.”Three strikes, but the Spartans didn't strike out. They hit a proverbial grand slam.It was an emotional one. Many of the Spartans wept openly as they lingered on the field. Several knelt in the corner of the north end zone, prolonging the moment as long as they could.“We've been around a long time,” said Zach Ward, who scored three touchdowns, all 1-yarders. “(The seniors are) not going to be able to do this again next year.”Solon scored a pair of touchdowns in a 54-second span in the first quarter to establish control, and built on the wave throughout.After forcing Heelan (12-2) into a game-opening three-and-out, the Spartans drove 75 yards in 15 plays in a 6 1/2-minute drive, converting all three of their third-down opportunities along the way.Brian Jedlicka capped it with a 1-yard TD.On the ensuing kickoff, Solon kicker Marshall Koehn hit higher on the ball than anticipated, and it worked out beautifully. The line-drive kick bounced off a Heelan lineman, and Solon's Austin Holub recovered the ball at the Heelan 15.Three plays later, Ward scored the first of his three short touchdown runs to make it 14-0.A 6-yard quarterback keeper by J.J. Hanus and a 45-yard field goal by Koehn, and it was 24-0 after a half in which the Spartans outgained the Crusaders by a 268-58 yardage margin.“There is a reason Solon is a four-time state champion,” said Heelan Coach Roger Jansen. “They make people do a lot of things they're not used to being forced to do.“Their record speaks for itself.”They've done it not with size, but with speed and athleticism - plus a resolve that developed after Iowa City Regina snapped their 42-game winning streak in Week 2.“After that loss, we turned 180 degrees,” Hanus said. “We started playing more consistently. After we lost, nobody thought we could do this. We even doubted ourselves.”Heelan scored the first touchdown of the second half, on Paul Jacobson's 18-yard pass to Pete Fitzsimmons on third-and-17.Fitzsimmons set the play up by grabbing teammate Michael Malloy's fumble in full stride and hustling it 59 yards to the Solon 11.But the Spartans got the score right back, with a pass-interference call and a 50-yard pass from Hanus to Derrick Loveless setting up Ward's 1-yard TD run.The Spartans added a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and got the continuous clock running with 4:52 to go.Hanus ran for 94 yards on 20 carries and completed 10 of 13 passes for 210. The Spartans finished with a 440-261 advantage in yards and won the turnover battle, 3-0.“Our offense played exceptionally well, and our defense was great as well,” Koehn said. “We were on them all the time, and we got the job done.”Nothing could derail the Spartans' run this year. Not graduation. Not the loss to Regina. Not injuries.“What impresses me the most with this group is the way they've handled success,” Miller said. “This team never became complacent, and they never wavered.”

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