By Ed Piper
The home public address announcer at Del Norte High kept mispronouncing the Solis surname as "Solace". (The family pronounces it "so-LEESE".) And it was announced a lot during the La Jolla football game, what with Gabe pulling off some trademark catches and brother Diego running for two touchdowns in the second half.
The unfortunate local paper covering the game got the two siblings mixed up, reporting that "Gabe" stepped in at quarterback, while it was his younger brother.
I want to focus on Gabe accurately here. The wide receiver broke through for 119 yards on eight catches against the victorious Nighthawks in the 17-16 thriller.
Gabe Solis grabbed a pass from his lefty brother quarterback and scampered 44 yards on a third-and-11 from the La Jolla 41-yard line with a minute and a half left, the Vikings down 17-16. He came off the field hopping on his left leg, his right leg up after he got banged up. (The Vikings weren't able to score to win the game.)
Earlier, Gabe had a 30-yard catch-and-run beginning the third quarter, the game tied 3-3 and up for grabs to either team with the Vikings making a lot of boo-boos. This came on third-and-two at the Del Norte 46. I wrote "great" in my notebook next to the play--great run for the slashing Solis.
Shortly before that, Gabe had taken a reverse on a kickoff return and run 30 yards. These are crucial and exciting plays--productive for his team, entertaining to watch.
It was good to see Solis break out again for yardage. Being the 1,000-yard receiver last year, he is a known factor, and defenses scheme to cover him as a priority.
For Del Norte, despite the Nighthawks' narrow win, Gabe provided no "solace".
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