Raiders roll past Spartans

WILLIAMSBURG — The Grant Hocker-Rayce Heitman connection struck hot again as the Williamsburg football team rolled to a 42-13 over Solon Friday night in a top-five battle in Class 3A.

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The duo combined for three touchdowns on the night, but the biggest play may have come on the defensive side.

The game started the of trading touchdowns — Williamsburg on a 10-yard pass to Cael Moore and Solon on a three-yard run from Eddie Johnson.

After an interception by Solon’s Maddox Kelley of a Hocker pass, the Spartans had the ball at the Raiders’ 29, down 7-6.

The Spartans reached a first and goal at the three yard line a few plays later.

On fourth-and-goal from the one, Trenton Davies broke through the line and tackled Solon’s Johnson for a four-yard loss.

“It was huge,” Williamsburg head coach Curt Ritchie said on the goal line stand. ”We didn’t get a turnover in the first half, but you would probably count that as one.“

Instead of the Spartans taking the lead, the Raiders drove 95 yards down the field as Hocker connected with Nile Sinn for a 67-yard touchdown pass.

The momentum switch kept the Raiders in the lead for the rest of the game. The Raiders’ defense forced a punt.

With the help of a few Spartans penalties, Hocker connected with Heitman for the first time on the night from 15 yards out as Heitman got open on an out-route.

Solon’s Johnson, who rushed for 150 yards on the night, responded with an 80-yard touchdown on the second play of the drive to make the score 21-13.

Both teams punted again before half, but the score remained 21-13.

The second half was all Raiders; their defense allowed no points.

“We took the run away and made them drive the ball, not giving up big plays,” Ritchie said. “I think we finally put all three phases together.”

The Raiders’ first offensive drive of the second half resulted in a 65-yard touchdown run from Grady Wetjen on a run up the middle.

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The score was 28-13 after three quarters.

The Raiders added two more insurance touchdowns — on passes to Heitman from seven and four yards out — to make the score 42-13.

The defense forced two turnovers, also in the fourth, off a forced fumble and a Bryson Wetjen interception.

The Raiders were balanced in the passing and running games, totaling 414 yards.

“It’s kind of a guessing game how people are going to play us with Grant and Rayce and our receivers,” Ritchie said. “It’s just a matter of putting a run game behind that and taking advantage of it.

Sinn rushed for 101 yards on the ground, and Hocker threw for 208 yards with five touchdowns.

Hocker now has 34 passing touchdowns on the season, and Heitman has 19 of them.

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The win put the Raiders at 6-1 and atop the 3A-5 district with two games remaining — against Grinnell and Benton Community.

“We just got to keep getting better every week,” Ritchie said following the win.

Williamsburg 42, Solon 13

(AT WILLIAMSBURG)

SOL WILL

First downs 15 18

Rushes-yards 35-189 37-206

Passing yards 120 208

Passing 13-22-1 10-16-1

Total yards 309 414

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Punts-average 5-37.2 2-28.0

Penalties-yards 9-99 8-60

Solon 6 7 0 0 — 13

Williamsburg 7 14 7 14 — 42

WILL — Cael Moore 10 pass from Grant Hocker (Colby McMullin kick)

SOL — Eddie Johnson 3 run (kick failed)

WILL — Nile Sinn 67 pass from Hocker (McMullin kick)

WILL — Rayce Heitman 15 pass from Hocker (McMullin kick)

SOL — Eddie Johnson 80 run (Collin McKie kick)

WILL — Grady Wetjen 65 run (McMullin kick)

WILL — Heitman 7 pass from Hocker (McMullin kick)

WILL — Heitman 4 pass from Hocker (McMullin kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Solon: Eddie Johnson 22-150, Einar Stecher 5-30, Maddox Kelley 4-19, Ty Bell 4- (minus 10); Williamsburg: Nile Sinn 22-101, Grady Wetjen 5-66, Rayce Heitman 2-32, Grant Hocker 5-10, Albert Mabrick 3- (minus 3).

Passing — Solon: Bell 13-22-1-120; Williamsburg: Hocker 10-16-5-206.

Receiving — Solon: Kelley 4-39, Owen Einwalter 4-37, Eli Kampman 2-29, Karsyn Regenniter 1-11, Tripp Johnson 1- (minus 3); Williamsburg: Heitman 5-55, John Eichhorn 2-53, Sinn 1-67, Wetjen 1-23, Cael Moore 1-10.