The Roland-Story Norsemen football team will make the trek north and east on I-35 and Highway 20 on Friday night, when they take on the Cadets of Iowa Falls-Alden in Iowa Falls in Class 2A, District 7 action. The Norsemen enter Friday night with a record of 3-2 overall and 2-0 in district play, while the Cadets enter with an 0-5 mark and 0-2 in district play.
Following a playoff campaign in 2021 that included a 6-4 record and a 2nd-round loss to eventual 2A State Champions Southeast Valley, the Cadets had high expectations coming into 2022. But a young line on both sides has proven to be damaging in the Cadets 0-5 start. Success has been limited on the ground, an area where coach Don Anderson’s squad excelled a year ago. Kacen Boyer and Jaden Damiano were the teams leading rushers a season ago, but both have yet to crack the 200-yard mark on the season, while junior Quinton Jaeger has 133 yards on the year. Senior Andrew Bickenese has been the Cadets top receiver with 12 receptions, but no one receiver has caught a touchdown or has over 100 receiving yards. Ethan Bartlett has thrown for 267 yards and 6 interceptions on the season.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Carter DeBates has led the Cadets with 38.5 tackles on the season, while junior Quinton Jaeger has 21.5 tackles, a tackle for loss, a fumble recover and a pick six. Iowa Falls-Alden has struggled with slowing opponents down at the line of scrimmage, as the Cadets only have 6.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack on the season. However, IF-A has recovered 4 fumbles and picked off 6 passes to help make up for the discrepancy.
Roland-Story’s offense rode the Jonovan Wilkinson train a week ago, as the junior ran for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns against Chariton, and the expectation is that he will get a lion’s share of the carries again against the Cadets. Norsemen quarterback Hesston Johnson will likely have more opportunities to air it out on Friday, after being limited due to the wet weather a week ago. Perhaps the biggest surprise for the Norsemen defensively has been the emergence of sophomore linebacker Charlie Watts, who leads the team in tackles with 32.5, while having half a sack and 3 tackles for loss to his credit. Safety Boaz Clark is also coming off a 2 interception night against Chariton as well.
Kickoff is slated for 7:30 PM at Cadet Field in Iowa Falls, the game will be broadcasted on 92.9 KZWC with pregame starting at 6:45.