PELLA — The Roland-Story Norsemen football team opened their 2025 regular season on Friday night, as they made the road trip to Pella to take on the Pella Christian Eagles in non-district action at Eagles Stadium in Pella. Friday’s meeting was the 2nd all-time meeting between the 2 programs, the first coming in the Class 2A Playoffs in 2010.
It was an inauspicious start to Friday night for the Norsemen, as Pella Christian quarterback Brecken Ritzert took the opening play 68 yards for a touchdown to put the Eagles ahead 7-0. Roland-Story would drive on their opening offensive possession, but Ritzert made another play, picking off Colin Willis to give the Eagles the ball back. However, the Roland-Story defense began to settle in, as the Norsemen offense was able to put together a drive in the back half of the first quarter with Willis finding Luke Thoreson on a 1-yard pass to make the score 7-6 after a blocked PAT. Pella Christian would march down the field and with the football inside the 5, Norsemen safety Aiden Frey stepped up and picked off a Brecken Ritzert pass to give Roland-Story the ball back. Just a couple plays later, Luke Thoreson took a hitch route pass from Colin Willis for a 71-yard touchdown to put the Norsemen ahead 12-7. Roland-Story would get into the endzone one more time in the first half of a 34-yard screen pass to Logan Smith to give Roland-Story a 19-7 halftime lead.
The first half of the 3rd quarter would be quiet, but that would change as Colin Willis let one rip deep and Aiden Frey beat his defender one-on-one and and took it 86 yards for a touchdown to put the Norsemen ahead 26-7. Roland-Story would then put their stamp on the game with a ground-heavy drive, capped off by a Jake Rogers 1-yard touchdown run to put the Norsemen ahead 32-7. Pella Christian would get a late garbage time touchdown to make the final 32-13.
It would be an electric start to 2025 for the Norsemen offense, which tallied 608 yards of total offense on Friday night. Colin Willis had a dazzling first career start, going 14-26, 338 yards and 4 touchdowns with 2 interceptions. Luke Thoreson would catch 6 passes for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Aiden Frey’s lone reception was his 86-yard touchdown pass, while also tallying 2.5 tackles and an interception. The Norsemen rushing attack also excelled despite the losses of Fiston Carlson and Ben Mazyck, as Cody Long ran for 152 yards on 16 carries, while Jake Knoll added 77 yards on 9 carries.
Roland-Story football returns to action on Friday night, as they host Des Moines Christian at Kerry Van Winkle Field in non-district action with kickoff at 7 PM.