Roland-Story sports round-up: Norsemen blank Albia in football, 21-0

The Roland-Story football team rebounded from last week's loss to then-No. 10 (Class 3A) Nevada with an impressive homecoming victory over Albia Friday at Kerry Van Winkle Field in Story City.

The Norsemen kept the Blue Demons off the scoreboard, winning 21-0 to improve to 2-2 and get off to a 1-0 start in 2A District 7.

The Roland-Story volleyball team suffered a tough three-set loss to Nevada Sept. 15 in Story. The 25-15, 25-20, 25-22 loss put the Norse at 0-2 in the Heart of Iowa Conference.

The Norse dropped both matches in a triangular at Gilbert Sept. 12. They fell to North Polk by 25-13 and 25-16 scores and suffered close 25-23 and 25-21 losses to Gilbert.

Roland-Story also went 2-3 at the Forest City Invitational Saturday in Forest City to put its season record at 8-8 overall.

The Norse swept St. Ansgar (21-12, 21-18) and defeated Central Springs, winning 21-15, losing 21-18 then winning the rally game by a 16-14 score. They suffered losses to Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (21-5, 21-15), Forest City (22-20, 21-19) and Webster City (21-13, 21-14).

The Norse girls cross country teams competed at the Mike Carr Invitational in Huxley Sept. 12. The girls took sixth out of 11 teams in Class B with 176 points and the boys ended up 10th out of 11 schools with a score of 255.

Here is what we learned from Roland-Story's high school athletic performances last week:

Defense is spectacular for Roland-Story in homecoming win

The Roland-Story football team overcame a 220-yard rushing performance from Albia running back Gage Oddo to keep the Blue Demons off the score board Friday night.

The Norsemen held Albia to just 17 yards passing and 270 yards overall.

"Our defense did a tremendous job all night," Roland-Story head coach Matt Finn said. "We were bending, but not breaking. Albia did a great job of controlling possession, but I think our athleticism was really on full display with our big plays and it put us into good position to control the game."

Sophomore linebacker Charlie Watts was the star for Roland-Story on defense. After missing the Nevada game with an illness he came through with 15.5 tackles, including 11 solo stops and two tackles for loss, against Albia.

Kale Lande made seven tackles, Thomas Tjaden 5.5 and Aaron Peyton and Gavin Carpenter five apiece for the Norsemen. Tjaden also had 1.5 sacks and Peyton was credited with half a sack.

Good balance keys offensive success

Roland-Story did all of its scoring in the first half Friday night.

The Norsemen put two touchdowns on the board in the first quarter and added another in the second before turning things completely over to the defense in the second half.

A well-round attack helped Roland-Story establish control of the game in the first half. Norsemen quarterback Hesston Johnson completed 5 of 10 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns and Roland-Story also ran for 165 yards.

Dillon Lettow was the big-play man for Roland-Story with three catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns, including one score from 91 yards out. Kale Lande added a 38-yard reception.

Jonovan Wilkson was Roland-Story's other big weapon Friday. Wilkinson ran for 133 yards and one touchdown on just 11 carries and he also caught one pass for 22 yards.

Back on the road

After two-straight home games Roland-Story is headed out on the road this week to face Chariton (2-2, 0-1) in a 2A District 7 matchup.

Chariton fell to No. 5 West Marshall by a 28-7 score last week in its district opener.

"We have really been working on playing each play as if the scoreboard didn't exist, so of course we have things we can clean up," Finn said. "We are going to take a look at our halftime process and offensive game plan and make sure that we can put two halves together in the coming weeks."

The game between the Norsemen and Chargers is set to start at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Reynolds Field in Chariton.

Roland-Story 21, Albia 0

Albia                   0        0        0        0 — 0

Roland-Story     14        7        0        0 — 21

Individual statistical leaders

Rushing: Albia — Gage Oddo 43-220. Roland-Story — Jonovan Wilkinson 11-133.

Passing: Albia — Justin Keller 1-2-0-17. Roland-Story — Hesston Johnson 5-10-2-210.

Receiving: Albia — Lance Helm 1-17. Roland-Story — Dillon Lettow 3-150.

Tackles: Albia — Keller 8. Roland-Story — Charlie Watts 15.5.

Sacks: Albia — Devin Kimball 1. Roland-Story — Thomas Tjaden 1.5.

Fumble recoveries: Albia — Landen Simpson 1.

Interceptions: Albia — Luke Wynn 1, Wyatt Sinclair 1.

Volleyball team struggles against tough foes

The Roland-Story volleyball team had a tough week against quality opposition.

North Polk is ranked 13th in 4A and Nevada 11th in 3A. Forest City just fell out of the 3A rankings after being rated No. 15.

In the loss to Nevada Kamryn Lande had five kills and Grace Dowling and Madelyn Risdal four apiece. Ali Charlson had 14 digs, Ali Charlson 13 assists and Alynn Solberg four blocks.

Risdal had eight kills and Dowling seven in the loss to Gilbert. Lande finished with 16 digs, Dowling and Risdal 11 apiece and Faber eight with two blocks.

Charlson dished out 18 assists and Risdal chipped in two aces.

In the loss to North Polk Charlson tallied 16 assists and 11 digs and Risdal nine kills.

Full statistics for the Forest City tournament were not available at press deadline.

Claire Truesdell leads R-S girls at Mike Carr Invitational

Claire Truesdell just missed placing in the top 10 of Class B for the Roland-Story girls at the Mike Carr Invitational.

Truesdell came in 11th overall with a 5-kilometer time of 21 minutes, 8.6 seconds. Solon's Kayla Young won the Class B girls title in 19:27.9 and Ballard's Paityn Noe, the top-ranked runner in 3A, was the fastest overall, winning Class A in 17:45.4.

Lauryn Kilstofte placed in the top 20 for Roland-Story with an 18th-place time of 21:38.7. Makenna Carlson took 35th in 23:00.9, Brooke Thompson 47th in 24:31.0 and Faith Springer 65th in 27:16.7.

Evan Voga took 33rd in Class B with a time of 19:23.3 as the top runner for the Roland-Story boys. Lucas Wuebker came in 53rd in 20:05.4, Luccas Hart 55th in 20:54.0, Nolan Rhoad 62nd in 21:24.7 and Colten Lucchesi 66th in 22:15.3 to round out the scoring for the Norse boys.

Des Moines Christian's Aaron Fynaardt won the Class B boys individual title in 15:59.1, making him the fasest individual in both classes.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Roland-Story sports round-up: Norsemen blank Albia in football