SOLOMON — When Devin Rizzo accepted the job as Solomon High School’s head football coach, he already had been around long enough to know that something had to change.

So, instead of easing into it, he turned the program on its head.

“Two years ago, when I took over, we changed everything from how we warmed up to where we warmed up on our game field and our practice flow and everything,” said Rizzo, now in his third season as the Gorillas’ head coach after four as an assistant. “I wanted it to be a lot like a switch, like hey, we’re going to do away with the old and kind of in with the new.”

Head coach Devin Rizzo

“We even put new logos on our helmets, kind of trying to rebrand our football program a little bit. This year we got silver helmets. Just trying to kind of add our touch to the program and where we want to take this.”

At first it was rough sledding for the Gorillas, who had slowly regressed since reaching the Eight-Man Division I state championship game in 2018. Solomon was coming off back-to-back 2-7 seasons and matched that record in Rizzo’s first year before improving incrementally to 3-7 in 2025 against a brutal schedule.

In the past seven years, Solomon has had four head coaches, one winning record and reached five victories just once. But finally, in year three under Rizzo, that appears to be changing.

Not only are the Gorillas off to a 3-0 start heading into Friday’s homecoming game against Canton-Galva (1-2), but they have outscored their opponents 178-46. Last week they knocked off unbeaten Wakefield on the road, 62-12.

“I kind of knew where we were at when I took over the program,” Rizzo said. “We’re very fortunate that this group bought into me from day one, having the relationship with them already built and understanding that I wanted to come in and kind of change how we were doing everything — to flip the script and build a sustainable program.

“A lot of the seniors this year have been playing for me since their sophomore year and starting on varsity as sophomores, so that experience is paying dividends now for them. Again, just super fortunate and thankful to have that group here with me.”

The team’s eight seniors clearly have been the driving force on Solomon’s 31-man roster, accounting for six of eight offensive starters and four of eight defensively. While they’re still learning how to win, they also are playing with a sense of urgency.

Senior Koehn Duryea

“It’s definitely a turning point, in my opinion,” said senior Koehn Duryea, the Gorillas’ starting middle linebacker and a do-it-all fullback, tight end and wide receiver on offense. “But it’s now or never, so you’ve got to play to the best of your abilities.”

“When you lose a lot of games, it’s easy to get in that mindset of, ‘Oh, we’re just going to come in and lose.’ But now that we’ve been winning games, we’ve just got to stay humble and confident and stay with what we’re doing.”

Duryea, who led Solomon in tackles last year with 104, currently sits second on the team with 26, three behind fellow linebacker Matt Hamm-Jones’ 29. He also has 12 catches for 227 yards and four touchdowns to go with one score on the ground.

The main offensive catalysts for the Gorillas have been running back Hamm-Jones and quarterback Breken Coup, both three-year starters.

Hamm-Jones, who led the team in rushing last year with 618 yards and seven touchdowns on 4.4 yards per carry, is on pace for a much bigger senior year with 490 yards and eight scores already while averaging 9.1 yards per attempt.

Senior Breken Coup

“A lot of times we’re kind of the ones that when energy’s down in the huddle, we’ll lift the morale, and when our attitudes aren’t right, we’ll fix them,” Coup said. “Having a talented running back like Matt is definitely very beneficial for us because it creates more threats for the offense.”

Nobody has made a bigger jump statistically than Coup, son of Solomon superintendent Justin Coup, a former two-time state championship football coach at Baileyville B&B. Breken Coup, who took over at quarterback after serving as understudy to older brother Spencer as a freshman, has completed 61.7% of his passes for 596 yards and 12 touchdowns with just one interception.

Last year, Coup completed just 51% of his throws for 963 yards and four touchdowns with eight picks.

“Being his third year as the starter, he’s now playing with the confidence that you like to see in your starting quarterback,” Rizzo said. “He’s throwing the ball well, but he’s also making the right decisions of when to throw it and when to run it. I’ve been very excited about his development and where he’s at so far in the year.”

The starting receivers are all seniors, led by Jack Westhead with 17 catches for 290 yards and six touchdowns, followed by tight end Duryea and Owen Westhead at the other wideout. Senior Junior Gonzalez anchors the offensive line next to juniors Aidyn Sreap and Ryder Sutton.

Defensively, Gonzales, Sreap and junior Riley Rodriguez start up front, with sophomore Hunter Bronson joining Hamm-Jones and Duryea at linebacker. Jack Westhead heads up the secondary, with sophomores Elit Adkins and Jastyn Rego sharing the other spot.

With a team that has struggled out of the gate in recent years, Rizzo couldn’t have asked for a better start to this season. Four of the Gorillas’ five remaining games — Canton-Galva, Washington County, Herington and Clifton-Clyde — are district contests that will determine their postseason position as they look for the program’s first playoff victory since 2018.

“I think how we’ve started the last few years has lost some kids’ drive,” Rizzo said. “So, starting by having a little more success early on keeps our team engaged and motivated.”

“I’m very happy with where we’re at, but I don’t think anybody in here will tell you that they’re content with where we are. We need to keep improving and getting better each and every day.”

Now that the Gorillas have experienced that early success, they are determined to keep the ball rolling.

“I would definitely say that we’ve been very focused on the next game and the preparation it will take for the outcome that we want,” Coup said. “That’s been our biggest thing, week in and week out.

“Every Friday has been go out and make a statement to the state and show that Solomon football is the truth. It’s not just luck, but it’s been that hard work that we put in, and it’s paying off for us.”

For a senior class hungry for success, making a playoff run in November not only would be a fitting end to their high school careers, but also the chance to set a new standard for future Solomon teams.

Senior Matt Hamm-Jones

“Me and some of the guys, we’ve obviously never had the opportunity in high school to make it to the second or third round, so that keeps us motivated,” Hamm-Jones said. “I would love to come back here in a couple of years and see all the guys that were younger now be seniors and be better than we are.”

While players come and go each year, Rizzo insists that he’s all in at Solomon with no plans to leave anytime soon.

“Prior to me, there were four head coaches that were here three years or less, and going into my third year, I don’t plan on going anywhere,” he said. “I plan on being here for the long haul.”

That was not the original plan when he moved from California to play football at Kansas Wesleyan, fully expecting to return home in four years. Instead, he found a new home.

“I thought I was going to go right back, met my wife about day two on campus, and quickly fell in love,” said Rizzo, whose wife has taught in Solomon for the past 12 years. “We actually live in Salina and have two little girls that go here, so now we’re kind of embedded in the Salina and Solomon community.”