The Roland-Story Norsemen football team returned to action on Friday night, as they hosted the Saydel Eagles in Class 2A, District 8 action at Kerry Van Winkle Field in Story City on senior night. The Norsemen entered at 5-2 and 3-1 in the district, while the Eagles entered at 1-6 and 0-4 in district play.
The rain-and-mud filled contest started off on the right foot for the Norsemen, with quarterback Sam Knoll taking a 25-yard run for a touchdown to put Roland-Story up 7-0. Following a stop on defense, the Norsemen drove the field again, this time the drive capped off by an 11-yard Hesston Johnson touchdown run to put the Norsemen up 14-0. Action slowed down in the 2nd quarter while the rain picked up, but Fiston Carlson broke off yet another touchdown run, this one from just 8 yards out to give Roland-Story a 21-0 halftime lead.
As the offense continued to spin its tires in the mud in the 3rd quarter, special teams gave the Norsemen a lift as Christian Chelsvig blocked the Saydel punt, and Charlie Watts returned it 19 yards for a touchdown to put the Norsemen up 28-0. It was then the defenses turn to join the party, as Hesston Johnson intercepted an AJ Ollin pass and ran it back 21 yards for a touchdown to put Roland-Story up 35-0. The Norsemen offense regained traction as Sam Knoll hit Tristan Anderson for an 11-yard touchdown pass to put Roland-Story up 42-0, before scoring closed with defensive lineman Thomas Tjaden getting a goal line hand off and barreling in for a touchdown to bring the final to 49-0.
Hesston Johnson led the Norsemen with 102 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while recording a pick six on defense, while Thomas Tjaden added 2 tackles for loss and a sack in addition to his rushing touchdown.
Roland-Story returns to action on Friday, when they host Clarke, Osceola at Kerry Van Winkle Field for the First Round of the Class 2A Playoffs at 7 PM.