The Solomon Gorillas moved to 4-0 on the season with an impressive 48-0 victory at Herington Friday night, in the district opener for both teams.  The Railers, 0-9 last season, entered the contest with a 2-1 record under first year Head Coach Cade Albert.

Solomon stumbled out of the gate with a fumble on their first possession, but then they got their offense rolling.  The Gorillas scored on their second series on a 43 yard run from Dylan Hynes.  He would add the 2-point conversion to give Solomon an 8-0 lead with 8:39 to play in the first quarter.  Solomon then got a 46 yard run on their next possession from Quarterback Alex Herbel.  Hynes added the 2-point conversion to give the Gorillas a 16-0 lead with 2:26 to play in the opening quarter.

Last season Solomon finished 4-5 and they struggled at times to throw the football.  They’ve improved in that area this year, under first year Head Coach, Mike Kilgore.  Herbel entered the night with 5 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions and he added to his touchdown total with a huge night.  Herbel was the Nex-Tech Wireless Offensive Player of the Game.  He finished with 121 yards passing and 4 touchdowns along with 126 yards on the ground with 2 more scores.  Herbel showed off his arm in the second quarter.  He connected with Hynes on a 4 yard touchdown pass play with 5:02 left in the half.  Dawson Duryea added the 2-point conversion reception to increase the Gorillas lead to 24-0.  Herbel then found Scott Robinson on a 33 yard touchdown pass play with 2:02 to increase the lead to 30-0 and that was the score at the half.

The second half was more of the same.  Herbel teamed up with Dureya on a 4 yard touchdown pass play with 2:36 left in the third quarter to increase the lead to 36-0.  Herbel then connected with Robinson for a second time, on a 7 yard pass play, to push the lead to 42-0 with 11:52 left in the 4th quarter.  Herbel finally ended the game on a 3 yard run with 3:37 to play in the game.

As good as the offense was for the Gorillas the defense was equally effective.  Herington entered the game averaging 49 points and 311 yards per game.  Not only did Solomon shut out the Railers, Herington only finished with 67 total yards.  The Solomon defense was led by Dylan Hynes, who was named the Nex-Tech Wireless Defensive Player of the Game.  The Junior linebacker for the Gorillas was constantly in the Railer backfield.

Solomon will travel to Bennington next Friday and the Railers will try to get back on track in their road game at Lincoln.