STORY CITY, Ia. — The Roland-Story Norsemen football team returned to the field on Friday Night, as they hosted the West Marshall Trojans in non-district action at Kerry Van Winkle Field. Roland-Story entered at 1-1 and ranked #4 in Class 2A, while West Marshall also entered at 1-1.
Friday’s first half would be a wacky one, after an explosive play by the Norsemen, a Colin Willis pass was tipped and intercepted by West Marshall’s Connor Yakel, which gave the Trojans early momentum. Neither team would amount much on their early drives, but West Marshall would get on the board at the end of the first quarter on a 22-yard field goal from Wilson Buckley to put the Trojans ahead 3-0. Roland-Story then mounted a drive midway through the 2nd quarter after a Jake Knoll interception, capped off by a Colin Willis 8-yard touchdown pass to Luke Thoreson as the Norsemen took a 7-3 lead, which would go into the halftime break.
The 2nd half would see West Marshall punt on their opening drive, as Roland-Story put together a time consuming drive and would score on a 1-yard touchdown run by Fiston Carlson to put the Norsemen ahead 14-3. West Marshall had 2 straight possessions backed up in their own end, as the 2nd possession ended with a pick six from junior Brody Kilstofte on a 38-yard return as Roland-Story took a 21-3 lead. Fiston Carlson put the finishing touches on the game in the 4th quarter with his second 1-yard touchdown run of the game as Roland-Story capped a 28-3 victory, their first over West Marshall since 2016.
The Ace Hardware of Webster City Ace of the Game was Roland-Story senior Fiston Carlson, who carried the ball 18 times for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns in the victory. Colin Willis finished 16-for-26 for 201 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while Jake Knoll led the Norsemen defense with 7.5 tackles and an interception.
Roland-Story football returns to action on Friday Night, as they open Class 2A, District 4 play with a trip to the Cedar Valley region to take on the Denver Cyclones at Denver High School, with kickoff at 7 PM.