The Roland-Story Norsemen football team will hit the road for their playoff opener on Friday night, as they make the long trek into Page County to take on the Clarinda Cardinals at Clarinda High School. The Norsemen enter Friday with a 4-4 record and a 3-2 mark in District 7, while Clarinda enters with a 5-3 record and a 4-1 mark in District 8.
The Norsemen and Cardinals have only met once in either program’s history before Friday night, all the way back on November 7th, 1981 in a 2A Semifinal game that resulted in a 33-14 win for the Norsemen en route to their 2nd consecutive state championship. Clarinda enters Friday night with a run-heavy offense out of spread formations, with senior running back Tadyn Brown the bell cow for the Cardinals offense, rushing for over 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns. Cardinals quarterback Wyatt Schmitt has thrown for over 600 yards and 7 touchdowns, but has thrown 11 interceptions. Schmitt has also added nearly 400 yards on the ground and 5 touchdowns. Schmitt’s top target has been senior Isaac Jones, who’s caught 22 balls for 435 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Defensively, the Cardinals are led defensively by junior Jase Wilmes, who’s tallied a team-high in tackles (39), sacks (6.5) and tackles for loss (8), while also recovering a fumble. Isaac Jones has been the top defensive back for the Cardinals this year, picking off 4 passes, recovering a fumble, while adding 34.5 tackles as well. Tadyn Brown and Karson Downey have made a tough linebacking-duo for the Cardinals as well, with the two registering an interception each, and combining for 56 tackles, 2 sacks and 9 tackles for loss.
Kickoff is slated for 7 PM at Clarinda High School on Friday evening.