The Roland-Story Norsemen football team returns to action on Friday Night, as they make the trip west on Highway 30 into Carroll County to take on the Knights of Kuemper Catholic in their Class 2A, District 8 opener at the Carroll Athletic Stadium. Friday night’s matchup is the lone top-10 showdown in 2A according to the Radio Iowa poll, a matchup that the Knights won in Story City last season by a score of 42-7, as Kuemper leads the all-time series 2-0.
Kuemper’s offense has been the story through the first 3 weeks of the 2024 season, averaging 34.6 PPG and racking up an average of 376 yards of total offense per game in their 2-1 start. Junior quarterback Brock Badding has picked up where left off as a Sophomore, throwing for 613 yards and 5 touchdowns, although completing just 47% of his passes. Badding’s favorite target so far has been senior receiver Carson Kanne, who leads the team in receptions (18), yards (291) and receiving touchdowns (3). Braxton Vonnahme has emerged as a playmaker on the outside as well, catching 13 passes for 218 yards and 2 touchdowns as well. The Knights have found a steady hand at running back with sophomore Jarin Hoffman, who’s rushed for 331 yards and 4 touchdowns on the young season. The offensive line is a young, but talented one, with the likes of sophomores Lucas Diehl and Connor Kanealy.
Defense has been a bit of a struggle so far for the Knights, as they’ve allowed an average of 31 PPG in the first 3 games, as well as an average of 347.3 yards allowed. The bright spot has been the front seven of the Knights, as Tate Bieret leads the team in tackles (26), tackles for loss (6) and sacks (3) through the first third of the season. Fellow linebacker Kent Sanders has added 21 tackles and a TFL as well. The defensive line features a couple of young studs in sophomore Lucas Diehl, who’s tallied 15.5 tackles, 4 tackles for loss and a sack, and sophomore Connor Kanealy, who has 10 tackles on the season. While the defensive backfield has struggled on the tackling side of things, they’ve managed to force 5 interceptions with 2 each from Griffin Glynn and Braxton Vonnahme.
Roland-Story will need to transition from facing a phone-booth offense like South Hamilton’s, to all the bells and whistles the Knights have with their spread attack. Ben Mazyck looked sharp in his first start at running back, and will have opportunities to run the football against a shaky Kuemper defense. Defensively, the Norsemen will need to apply pressure on Brock Badding to slow down the explosive Knights offense.
Kickoff is slated for 7:30 PM at the Carroll Athletic Stadium on Friday night, and the game can be heard on 95.7 KQWC or streaming online at kqradio.com.