Due to more intriguing news -- quarterback Dixie Wooten's new Slim Fast waistline, the arrival of playmaker Hurtiss Chinn, and the presence of pin-up boy Colin Bryant -- Clinton Solomon spent training camp as a relatively anonymous member of the Wichita Wild.
On Friday night in front of a sell-out crowd of 4,755, Solomon showed why he is perhaps the biggest star on the Indoor Football League team.
A speedy and lanky receiver, Solomon caught two touchdown passes -- including a game-changing bomb -- in the Wild's 57-20 victory over the La Crosse (Wis.) Spartans in the season opener for both teams in Hartman Arena.
Solomon, an all-league player last season, finished with nine receptions for 117 yards — numbers that came in the game's first three quarters.
After the game was decided, he also found time to high five a couple fans in the end zone after flying into the stands on an attempted catch, and sign the arm of a young boy at the end of the third quarter.
"I always try to have fun and entertain, but I also try to take care of my business," said Solomon, who played at Iowa. "If you're not having fun, you're spoiling the game.
"Tonight, I had a lot of fun, it was all smiles, and we won. It was a good night."
Expansion La Crosse, coached by former Kansas Jayhawk and Green Bay Packer Gilbert Brown, never seemed a serious threat, but the Spartans did pull to within 30-20 late in the first half when a breakdown by the defensive backs allowed a 33-yard scoring pass.
The Wild responded on its next possession when Wooten connected with Solomon on a 40-yard touchdown pass — a huge hook-up on a 50-yard field — to put Wichita up 36-20.
On the play, called "Go Switch," Solomon crossed fellow receiver Donald Payne in the open field and found himself wide open — so open that he caught the lofted pass while backpedaling toward the end zone.
"Personally, I think I can play a lot better technique-wise, but that will come as the season goes on," Solomon said. "A big thing was the O-line blocked tremendously for Dixie when we needed them to."
On La Crosse's next possession, defensive back Ene Akpan turned in a big play of his own, intercepting a pass and returning it 39 yards for a touchdown.
Akpan, who played at McPherson College, said he jammed a receiver at the line and then slid underneath in the Wild's zone coverage.
"The quarterback didn't see me, and I just picked it," Akpan said. "I had to look around; I didn't think I would be that lonely. Then I just turned it upfield."
The play was significant because it put La Crosse in a 43-20 hole and because quarterback Jimmy Sangster, who had been solid, was knocked out of the game with an apparent left ankle injury.
"He was throwing the ball extremely well; take him out of it and they really didn't have a chance,"Wild coach Ken Matous said. "You never want to see a kid get hurt like that. It kind of took the wind out of their sails."
