WELLMAN, Ia. — The Roland-Story Norsemen football team returned to the gridiron on Friday Night, as they made the long trip to Eastern Iowa to take on the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks in the second round of the Class 2A Playoffs at Mid-Prairie High School. Roland-Story entered at 7-2 and ranked #9, as Mid-Prairie entered at 8-1 and ranked #7.
Roland-Story would set the tone from the very beginning, as Norsemen linebacker Tucker Hawkins forced a fumble on the 2nd play of the game, which set up the Norsemen on a touchdown just moments later on a 7-yard pass from Colin Willis to Luke Thoreson to put Roland-Story up 7-0. Mid-Prairie would punt on their ensuing possession, as Roland-Story got the ball back and used the ground game to their advantage, scoring an 8-yard touchdown run by Ben Mazyck, as after another Golden Hawks punt, Mazyck scored from 13 yards out to take a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Roland-Story’s first drive of the 2nd quarter started at their own 2-yard line, but would finish quickly behind an 82-yard touchdown run by Fiston Carlson to put Roland-Story up 27-0. Mid-Prairie scored a touchdown before halftime on a 3-yard touchdown run by Oliver Miller to make the halftime score 27-7.
The 3rd quarter would fly by as Roland-Story took up most of the quarter with their ball control offense, as the Norsemen scored early in the 4th quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run by Fiston Carlson to take a 35-7 lead. Mid-Prairie responded quick with a touchdown drive, capped by a 23-yard pass from Brooks Weber to Nolan Jergens to bring the score to 35-14, but Fiston Carlson would cap off a historic night with a 71-yard touchdown run to punctuate a 42-14 playoff victory for the Norsemen.
The Ace of the Game, presented by Ace Hardware of Webster City, was Norsemen senior Fiston Carlson, who carried 29 times for a school-record 392 yards and 3 touchdowns. Carlson’s performance earned him a spot in the top 50 of the best single-game rushing performances in state history, tying him with Columbus Junction’s Sam Meeker in 2002, Indianola’s Dylan Hildreth in 2017 and Madrid’s Michael Santi in 2015. Ben Mazyck would carry 12 times for 58 yards and 2 touchdowns, as Sam Scarrow totaled 7 tackles and 2 sacks in the game.
LISTEN: Roland-Story coach Matt Finn discusses 42-14 win over Mid-Prairie
Roland-Story football advances to the Class 2A Quarterfinals for the first time since 2008, as the Norsemen will travel to Van Meter to take on the Bulldogs at Bulldog Stadium, with kickoff at 7 PM on Friday on 95.7 KQWC, online at kqradio.com and on the KQWC App.