The Norwalk football team will look to build on an outstanding season opener tonight when the Warriors host Des Moines Lincoln in a Week 2 non-district matchup at 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard live on the KNIA3 stream via kniakrls.com, with pregame coverage starting at 6:30.
Listed sixth in BC Moore’s latest Class 4A state rankings, Norwalk opened the season at Pella last Friday with an impressive 44-20 victory, outscoring the Dutch 30-6 following a high-scoring first quarter in which both teams scored twice.
Senior quarterback Landon Hochstein was an efficient 20-for-23 in the passing department, throwing for 315 yards and four touchdowns while adding 69 yards and one TD on the ground. Dillon Ranck was the top receiving target with six catches for 135 yards.
Offensively, six different Warrior players scored a single touchdown on the night and the first-string offense found the end zone on six out of seven drives. The first-string Norwalk defense, meanwhile, did not allow any points after Pella scored on its first two possessions. Will Clark led the team with 7.5 total tackles and one sack, and Kaden Tomkins had an interception.
Des Moines Lincoln also brings a 1-0 record into tonight’s contest after rolling past Sioux City West 49-12 in Week 1. The Railsplitters produced six defensive takeaways and racked up 256 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
Norwalk head coach Paul Patterson says that Lincoln is smaller than Pella, but has some good team speed. Patterson stresses limiting the Rails’ big plays and winning the turnover battle as big keys on Friday.
“We’ve got to make sure that we take care of the football,” he said. “We were very fortunate last week not to have any turnovers. Being able to take care of the football and ensure that we are in possession of it all the time is huge, and then making sure that we limit those big plays (is) enormous for us.
“I think if we do a good job of making sure that those things happen, then we can just let ourselves play and have a little fun and see what happens.”
Tonight’s game will also be streamed by the Norwalk Warrior Productions YouTube channel, which will use the audio provided by KNIA3.