The Roland-Story Norsemen football team returned to action on Friday night, as they welcomed in their HOIC rivals in the Nevada Cubs at Kerry Van Winkle Field in Story City in non-district action. Roland-Story entered with a 1-0 record and ranked #8 in Class 2A, while Nevada entered at 1-0 and ranked #8 in Class 3A.
Roland-Story started the night with the ball and, with the help of a Sam Knoll fake punt on 4th down, marched the field and capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Cody Long to put Roland-Story up 6-0 after a blocked PAT. Both sides traded punts before Nevada strung together a drive mostly on the ground, capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run by Anthony Eaton to put the Cubs up 7-6 in the 2nd quarter. Neither side could find the endzone before halftime as the Cubs went in with a 7-6 lead.
The 3rd quarter would go scoreless as both defenses shined in forcing numerous punts in the frame. However, Nevada broke the 2nd half draw as they punched in an Anthony Eaton touchdown from 3 yards out to put the Cubs up 14-6. Roland-Story answered back nearly immediately as Sam Knoll found Cody Long on a tunnel screen, before Long broke the play for a 34-yard touchdown reception, as Roland-Story tied the game with an Aiden Frey 2-point conversion to make it 14-14. The Norsemen defense would get a stop on the ensuing drive as Nevada missed a go-ahead field goal, but a Roland-Story fumble gave Nevada a short field as Anthony Eaton score his 3rd touchdown of the night to give Nevada 20-14 as the Cubs missed the PAT. Roland-Story would get 2 cracks to try and tie the game or take the lead, but the Cubs defense held for a 20-14 victory.
Norsemen quarterback Sam Knoll would go 9-17 with 110 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 64 yards. Cody Long had the Norsemen’s lone rushing touchdown, with 6 carries for 21 yards, while catching 4 passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Roland-Story football returns to action on Friday, as they make the short trek north to Jewell to take on long-time rival South Hamilton in non-district action at Bill Taylor Field, with kickoff at 7 PM.