STORY CITY, Ia. — The Roland-Story Norsemen football team returned to action on Friday night, as they hosted the Van Meter Bulldogs in the 2nd round of the Class 2A Playoffs at Kerry Van Winkle Field in Story City. Roland-Story entered with a record of 7-2, as Van Meter also entered at 7-2 and ranked #5 in Class 2A.
Friday’s first quarter would be highlighted by outstanding defense, as Roland-Story started with the football, but would turn the ball over on a Colin Willis interception to all-state linebacker Tate Doggett that set Van Meter up with a short field. The Bulldogs would march down to the 1-yard line, but on 4th and goal, a rollout passes was thwarted by the Norsemen defense as Roland-Story got the goal line stand. Punts dominated the rest of the first quarter, but scoring finally occurred in the 2nd quarter as Colin Willis found Luke Thoreson for a 56-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass to put Roland-Story ahead 7-0. Van Meter answered back on their ensuing drive as receiver Lexon Blevins got loose on a 59-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep to tie the game at 7-7, as that tie would last into halftime.
Van Meter punted to start the 2nd half and downed Roland-Story inside the 10, but on 3rd and long, a rollout pass by the Norsemen resulted in a strip sack for the Bulldogs and a fumble recovery in the end zone by freshman Cody Deemer for the touchdown as Van Meter took a 14-7 lead. The Norsemen offense could not find sustained success in the 3rd quarter, as the Bulldogs took a long drive early into the 4th quarter and scored on a QB sneak from 4 yards out to take a 21-7 lead. Roland-Story’s offense would go back to the air and find success as Colin Willis finished a quick drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Luke Thoreson to bring the score to 21-14. Roland-Story was able to prevent Van Meter from running out the clock, but the Bulldogs elected to kick a field goal on their final drive and senior Henry Lounsbury would make a 38-yard field goal to effectively ice the game for a 24-14 Van Meter victory.
The KQWC Player of the Game was Roland-Story junior receiver Luke Thoreson, who caught 7 passes for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns. Colin Willis would go 17-for-33 for 221 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, as Cody Long was the Norsemen’s leading tackler in his final game in a Roland-Story uniform with 6.5 tackles.
Van Meter advances to face the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks in the Class 2A Quarterfinals on Friday night with kickoff at 7 PM from Wellman. Roland-Story ends the 2025 season with a record of 7-2.