Mark Solis’ return to Richland County was a triumphant one.
The head coach at Crestview from 1999 to 2003, Solis returned to his roots Friday night, guiding Olentangy to a resounding 48-21 win over Lexington on a crisp Friday night.
“It was kind of neat to get back to north central Ohio, being an old Crestview guy,” Solis said. “This is kind of my old stomping grounds. I knew my way around.
“Nobody knew where the stadium was. I knew where it was at.”
The Braves (3-0) operated out of an up-tempo offense that would make Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly proud, Olentangy raced out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead and never looked back.
“We had 59 offensive snaps in the first half,” Solis said. “In Week One, we had 92 (offensive snaps for the game) and last week we had 79. We want to go as fast as we can.
“We spent a lot of time in the offseason studying some people. When you go really fast, it gives people problems.”
Anthony Golden scored Olentangy’s first touchdown on a 5 yard run with 4:59 to play in the first quarter. Less than three minutes later, 6-foot-4 senior quarterback Noah Durst hit senior wideout Victor Elmurr for a 34-yard scoring strike.
“All of our kids are going only one way,” said Solis, who is in his first season at Olentangy after spending the past two years at Lorain. “We have a lot of depth that gives us the ability to (force the tempo).”
Lexington, meanwhile, had nine two-way players.
“We knew they were that style of team,” second-year Lex coach Dan Studer said. “They are quick. They’re good at it.
“Those cats know what they’re doing.”
The game couldn’t have started much worse for the Minutemen (1-2). Lex was penalized twice before kickoff, for delay of game and offsides.
“We didn’t play well on any level,” Studer said. “It was missed tackles, missed blocked, missed assignments. I’m a fundamentalist. I preach fundamentals all the time and when something like that happens, it’s just a hard one to swallow.
“That’s not how we do things. We can’t let that happen again.”
Olentangy scored 17 second-quarter points to take a 31-0 halftime lead. Durst connected with senior running back Hayden Hunter for a 21-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 before senior wideout J.T. Grega hauled in a 9-yard TD pass for a 28-0 advantage. Sophomore Jacob Bell capped the half with a 42 yard field goal.
Durst had a remarkable first half, completing 19 of 28 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
“Our quarterback had a really nice game tonight,” Solis said. “We counted nine two-way players for them so we thought our pace and tempo would give them some problems and I think it did.”
The Braves piled up 327 yards of first-half offense compared to just 62 yards for the Minutemen. Olentangy went back to work in the third quarter when Hunter took a short pass from Durst and raced 64 yards for a touchdown. Bell’s 38-yard field goal with 4:35 left in the third quarter made it 41-0.
Hunter added a 53 yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter to make it 48-0.
Lexington’s junior varsity players performed admirably in the fourth quarter, scoring 21 unanswered points. Back-up quarterback Joey Vore, a 5-10 sophomore, put the Minutemen on the scoreboard with a 42 yard touchdown run. Junior running back Xavier White added a 55 yard scoring run and Vore capped Lexington’s 21-point quarter with a 29 yard TD scamper.
“Our young guys are very promising,” Studer said. “They are hard workers. We’ve had a lot of young guys step up this year already and make some plays and really good contributions.
“It was positive, but we just expect more out of ourselves as a unit and as a team.”
Lexington opens Ohio Cardinal Conference play at Orrville next week. The Red Riders are 3-0 after Friday’s 28-22 win over Canal Fulton Northwest.
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
Mansfield Senior 45, Marion Harding 16
