The Roland-Story Norsemen football team returned to action on Friday night, as they made the trip to the Des Moines metro to take on the Saydel Eagles in Class 2A, District 8 action at Saydel Stadium. Roland-Story entered at 5-2, 3-1 in district play and ranked #8 by Radio Iowa, while Saydel entered at 1-7 and 0-4 in district play.
Roland-Story would fire the first shot, as Fiston Carlson scored from 9 yards out to put the Norsemen up 7-0. After a quick 3-and-out from Saydel, Sam Knoll went to the air and found Hesston McIlrath for a 49-yard touchdown pass to put Roland-Story up 14-0. The Norsemen defense then got into the action, as sophomore Aiden Frey came up with a 57-yard pick six to put the Norsemen up 21-0. Roland-Story would put in one more 1st quarter score, as Sam Knoll set up a throwback screen to offensive guard Garrett Nerem, who scored from 5 yards out to put give Roland-Story a 27-0 lead. Saydel would find offense om the 2nd quarter as Adam Ollin found Landen Soma for a 4-yard touchdown pass to make the score 27-6. The Eagles found further success by tacking on a safety to cut the score to 27-8. The Norsemen would go on a 2-minute drive at the end of the half, as Sam Knoll hit Aiden Frey with under 30 seconds left for a 25-yard touchdown pass to put the Norsemen up 34-8 at halftime.
The 3rd quarter would be relatively uneventful, until Roland-Story put together a drive that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown run by Charlie Watts near the end of the frame as the Norsemen took a 41-8 lead. Roland-Story kept their foot on the gas in the 4th, as Sam Knoll threw his 3rd touchdown pass of the night, finding Logan Smith for a 21-yard touchdown pass to put Roland-Story up 48-8. Fiston Carlson would add the cherry on top with a 33-yard touchdown run to solidify a 55-8 win for the Norsemen.
Sam Knoll would go 8-16 for 160 yards and 3 touchdowns, while adding another 16 yards on the ground. Fiston Carlson led the Norsemen with 85 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground, while Ben Mazyck had 73 yards on the ground, as Roland-Story rolled up 240 yards on the ground. Aiden Frey put together a big night with 3 receptions for 63 yards and a touchdown, while picking off 2 passes with a pick six.
Roland-Story football will be the 2-seed out of District 8 in the Class 2A Playoffs, as the Norsemen will host Crestwood in the first round on Friday night at 7 PM.