VAN METER, Ia. — The Roland-Story Norsemen football team returns to the gridiron on Friday Night, as they make the trip to the west side of the Des Moines metro to take on the Van Meter Bulldogs in the quarterfinal round of the Class 2A Playoffs at Bulldog Stadium. Roland-Story enters with a record of 8-2 and ranked #9 in Class 2A, while Van Meter enters at 9-1 and ranked #3 in Class 2A. Friday’s meeting is the 2nd all-time between the 2 programs, as Van Meter won last year’s meeting 24-14 in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
No strangers to this part of the season, Van Meter comes into Friday’s contest fresh off a 42-20 win over Centerville in the 2nd round, as the Bulldogs were champions of Class 2A, District 8 by running the table in district play. The Bulldogs and Norsemen share a common opponent in Des Moines Christian, who beat both Van Meter and Roland-Story in the non-district slate. Van Meter’s offense is led by explosive sophomore quarterback Keenan Lundy, who’s thrown for 721 yards and 8 touchdowns, while rushing for nearly 1,500 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. Lundy is flanked in the backfield with a steady stable of backs, as senior Lexon Blevins splits time in the backfield and receiver with 631 yards and 11 touchdowns rushing, as sophomore Nick Leary has 543 yards and 6 touchdowns, while 2025’s leading rusher Christian Williams returned from injury in the win over Centerville. Sophomore Miles Buse is the leading receiver with 241 yards and 2 touchdowns, as Blevins has 236 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. The Bulldogs possess a young, yet physical offensive line, led by upperclassmen such as Garrison Thummel, Daniel Wiebelhaus and Noah Jones.
Defensively, the front seven has been a strength for the Bulldogs, as the defensive line has seen playmakers in Garrison Thummel, TJ Parker and Cody Deemer. Thummel has 26 tackles, 8.5 TFL and 4.5 sacks, Parker has 26.5 tackles, 6.5 TFL and 5 sacks, while Cody Deemer has 20 tackles, 5.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks. Junior linebacker Sully Tinkey leads the unit with 61 tackles, 5 TFL and a pick six, as Adam Boeck has 44.5 tackles and a team-high 3 interceptions. The secondary is a veteran and fundamentally sound group, as Jaxon Bickford and Holden Buse lead the unit with 33.5 tackles each, with Bickford adding 2 interceptions, as Lexon Blevins has 2 picks and a pick six in 2026.
LISTEN: Van Meter coach Eric Trudo previews Roland-Story
Roland-Story will look to end Van Meter’s streak of 12 consecutive seasons making the UNI Dome on Friday, and riding the hot play of Fiston Carlson and the Norsemen offensive line, but Roland-Story’s passing attack has yet to need to put up big numbers in a game. The Norsemen’s 3-3 stack defense will face one of it’s toughest challenges to slow down the explosive Keenan Lundy and the Van Meter rushing attack.
LISTEN: Roland-Story coach Matt Finn previews Van Meter
Kickoff is slated for 7 PM on Friday Night from Van Meter, and can be heard on 95.7 KQWC, online at kqradio.com and on the KQWC App.