Roland-Story opens year 4 of the Matt Finn era on the road with a trip down Highway 30 to Tama to take on the Trojans of South Tama County. The two squads have faced 2 times previously, with South Tama winning both meetings in 2014 and 2015. However, the Trojans are coming off a 1-8 campaign in Class 3A last season, Roland-Story is coming off a 4-5 campaign with a playoff appearance in 2022.
South Tama looks to rebuild their offense, but they have the key piece to do so in senior quarterback Gavin Bridgewater. Bridgewater threw for 344 yards and 3 touchdowns last season, while rushing for 672 more yards and 7 touchdowns as the Trojans leading rusher. South Tama will need see Tyrus Clegg step into a larger role at running back, while the Trojans will try to rebuild a green receiving room, as well as build up an offensive line that does have a good amount of varsity experience.
On the defensive side, the Trojans return their top 3 tacklers from a season ago in Bridgewater, Kyan McBride and Cyrus Mathes. McBride tied for the team lead in sacks with 2, while leading the squad in tackles for loss with 6.5. Juan Robles will look to lead a young defensive line group, while the Trojans try to build a secondary that can play complementary to their experienced linebacking core.
Roland-Story’s offense had some changes in camp, most notably Hesston Johnson moving from quarterback to running back. Johnson will provide a powerful option to his counterpart in the speedy, shifty Jonovan Wilkinson. Sam Knoll steps into the starting quarterback role, and will break in a brand new receiving group as well, highlighted by wide out Boaz Clark and tight end Roland Yates. The offensive line returns key interior pieces in senior captains Jake Jennings and Christian Chelsvig, as well as tackle Aaron Peyton.
Defensively, the Norsemen have the potential to posses a deep and talented defensive line, highlighted by Peyton, as well as Thomas Tjaden and Roland Yates. The linebacking core remains in tact from a season ago, featuring Johnson, Chelsvig and all-stater Charlie Watts, who had 81.5 tackles in 2022. The defensive backfield is led statistically by Boaz Clark, who had 5 interceptions last season, while Jonovan Wilkinson will likely see full-time duties in the secondary as well.
The Norsemen and Trojans kickoff at 7 PM on Friday, August 25th at South Tama County High School in Tama.