Demons cure Spartan plague

SOLON - It hadn't happened since Sept. 25, 2015. It had only happened twice in 10 opportunities. It had never happened here.

Here was Spartan Stadium Friday and it was a Washington victory, 33-18, over the thorn-in-the-side Spartans.

Solon has been a constant irritant on the Demons' football schedule, a sickness they couldn't cure but Trashaun Willis and the Demons found the vaccine for Solon with a balanced attack (149 yards passing, 187 yards rushing) and a bend-but-don't-break defense (183 yards passing, 111 rushing).

'We have been focused on this game since last season,” Willis said. 'We wanted this one.”

The second Demon possession went 71 yards on six plays. The highlight was a 33-yard Spencer Sotelo reception and it ended with a Wyatt Stout touchdown on a pitch play.

'This win meant a lot more than Bettendorf,” Stout said. 'It obviously means more with Solon because they are a rivalry with us. Last year, We let them get by us so there was no way that was going to happen this year. We came here to beat them. This wasn't just a week worth of thinking about Solon. This one was long overdue.”

Solon answered with seven straight running plays then a 55-yard touchdown on a swing pass that ended the first quarter 7-7.

It took less than a minute and three plays for the Demons to break that tie and go up 14-7. Stout for no gain, Stout reception for 37 yards and Stout run right up the middle for a 40-yard TD.

'We pulled a guard (Kael Adam) and I followed him and I was untouched right through the middle,” Stout said. 'I ran it to the house because my linemen did great. Kael is a stud. He spent a lot of time in the offseason perfecting his craft. He really improved his game and it is showing out here on Friday night.”

Again Solon answered on its next possession, this time with a 12-play scoring drive. It only yielded three points because Sotelo knocked away a third-down pass in the end zone.

Washington countered with a four-play TD drive that produced the game's signature play - Willis rumbling downfield, shedding tacklers and tight-roping the sideline for a 69-yard scramble that was a called pass play. Two plays later, he swept right for a TD and the Demons went into halftime with a 21-10 lead.

'I just took off and released my inner Luke Turner,” said Willis of his long run, referencing the Demon QB of the last three years. 'They just kept slipping off me. They couldn't tackle. I was gassed by the end of it.”

Solon's first drive after halftime ended on a missed field goal and Washington responded with an 13-play, 80-yard scoring drive that ate up the rest of the third quarter. Key plays were an 11-yard reception by Zac Stout on third down and a nine-yard run from a shovel pass on fourth-and-six by Wyatt Stout. The touchdown was a 19-yard pass to a wide-open Sotelo in the end zone with 11:20 to go in the game.

Defensive plays by Zayne Laws and Reece Meyer caused the next two Solon possessions to end with punts.

'Coach Harris said a lot of things at halftime that made us come out and play even better in the second half,” Mayer said.

Washington capped the historic evening with a 48-yard TD drive that featured Wyatt Stout weaving through Solon for 26 yards on third-and-five and Willis sweeping right on the next play for a 17-yard score with 4 minutes, 52 seconds left for a 33-10 lead.

The Spartans tacked on a score with 45 seconds left.

Willis was 8-of-13 passing with Zac Stout, Wyatt Stout and Sotelo each with two receptions.

'We had some big plays in the passing game,” Demon head coach James Harris said. 'The open field run from Trashaun was incredible. In case anyone watching doesn't know, No. 7 (Willis) is a special human. He just is a stud in so many ways.”

Willis had 13 carries for 95 yards rushing and Stout had 11 for 88.

'There are so many things that this team does and they do it together,” Harris said. 'The whole community is part of this for us, from our coaches to our players, the second string guys, the freshmen and the managers, anybody that helps is a big part of what we do. We all make each other better.”