The Roland-Story Norsemen football team returns to action on Friday night, as they host their Class 2A 1st round playoff game by welcoming in the Crestwood Cadets to Kerry Van Winkle Field in Story City. Roland-Story enters at 6-2 and ranked #7 by Radio Iowa, while Crestwood enters at 3-5. Friday’s meeting will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools in football.
Crestwood enters at 3-5 with wins over New Hampton, Waukon and a forfeit against Oelwein, with losses to MFL MarMac, Independence, Decorah, Osage and North Fayette Valley. The Cadets offense features a ground heavy attack, led by senior quarterback Aidan Skoda. Skoda has thrown for 374 yards and 3 touchdowns, but is the Cadets leading rusher with 1,095 yards and 9 scores. Running back Brock Voyna has added 525 yards and 2 scores as well. When the Cadets do throw, Skoda’s favorite targets are sophomore Nathan Mahr and junior Luke Drtina, as Mahr has caught 17 passes for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Drtina has caught 15 balls for 151 yards. Senior Dashel Donlan also has 100 receiving yards on the year as well.
Defensively, the strength of the Cadets is off the edge with defensive end Caiden Simiele and edge rusher Tyler Gibson. Simiele is the Cadets leading tackler with 38.5 stops, with 9 TFL and a sack, while Gibson has 38 tackles, 7.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks. Brock Voyna, Brayden Thompson and Brady Fett round out the linebacking core, as Voyna has 29 tackles, Thompson’s tallied 25.5 tackles and 2.5 TFL, while Fett has 18.5 tackles, 4.5 TFL and a sack. Helping anchor the defensive line with Simiele is sophomore Anwan Skoda, who’s amassed 10.5 tackles and 6.5 TFL on the season. Ben Isaacson leads the Cadets with 2 interceptions, while Gage Moser and Caleb Holzer have also claimed interceptions with double-digit tackling numbers.
The Norsemen enter the postseason with their strength in the rushing attack, as a now fully-healthy Fiston Carlson rejoins Ben Mazyck and Cody Long in the backfield. Sam Knoll’s play at QB will be a tell-tale as to how far the Norsemen run could go, while Roland-Story’s front seven has been prepped most of the season a run-heavy attack brought on by Crestwood.
Kickoff is slated for 7 PM on Friday Night from Kerry Van Winkle Field.