Solon football v. rival Twinsburg Tigers

The No. 15 ranked Solon Comets take on non-conference rival Twinsburg this Friday, Sep. 2 at home. Solon is coming off a crushing 36-6 win against Aurora last week in which they led 29-0 at halftime. Twinsburg travels to Stewart Field after losing their opener against Copley 35-28.

Solon put on quite the show in Aurora. Senior Joe Bubonics went 13 of 17 for a whopping 245 yards and four touchdowns in his first career start at quarterback. Those include a 39-yard touchdown snag by senior wide receiver Jake McCurry and a screen pass to senior wideout Darryl Sinclair, who turned on the afterburners en route to a 58 yard score.

The team should be fired up to take on a storied rival after easily downing the Greenmen for revenge after their surprise 24-14 loss last year, but coach Jim McQuaide says the team’s approach this season is to not get too excited.

“We try not to ride that rollercoaster,” McQuaide said. “When you go all the way up, then you come screaming down…with the teams that we’re playing [this season], we’ll be in trouble if we do that.”

Bubonics and McQuaide both agreed that this week, the team needs to work on limiting turnovers and unforced penalties, such as false starts and illegal motion. However, they were pleased with the intensity and aggressiveness the team displayed last week and they hope the team can carry it over to this game.

Although Twinsburg finished with an unthreatening 1-9 record last season, McQuaide says they are much improved and offered nothing but praise for the upcoming opponent.

“[Twinsburg] could be one of the fastest teams we play all year,” McQuaide remarked. “Their quarterback is a tremendous runner and a good passer, and they have outstanding receivers…they do a great job of spreading the offense, getting those guys in space and letting them outrun everyone.”

McQuaide mentioned that the key group this week will be the experienced offensive line, led by Virginia commit Chris Glaser, who helped spring those huge plays last game.

“For us to win, those guys will need to lead the way,” McQuaide concluded.

Bubonics seconded McQuaide’s reverence for the players in the trenches, saying that Twinsburg should put up a repeat performance after they were unable to record a sack against Copley last week.

“The big guys up front do a great job of keeping me clean,” Bubonics said.

Bubonics also said to expect more monumental plays from the offense this week, as he believes Solon’s wide receiver corps holds the advantage over Twinsburg’s secondary.

“We are going to keep doing what works best,” Bubonics stated. “[For now,] that’s throwing it deep to the best athletes on the field.”

Even though both McQuaide and Bubonics noted the team’s encouraging work in practice this week, they said they’ll have to wait until Friday night to see if all of the team’s hard work has paid off.

“Twinsburg has always been a big rival and we’re expecting big things this week,” Bubonics said.