The Norwalk football team clinched a district title with last week’s 21-7 win at Council Bluffs Lewis Central. Tonight, the Warriors look to close the regular season with a perfect district record when they host the Glenwood Rams at 7:00 p.m. The game will be streamed live on kniakrls.com (KNIA3), starting with pregame coverage at 6:30.

The Warriors are 5-3 overall and 4-0 in Class 4A, District 6. They are ranked eighth in 4A by BCMoore and are 16th in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s RPI standings. Norwalk is already guaranteed a first round home playoff game next Friday, but needs a win tonight to improve their RPI for potential playoff seeding down the road. 

More than that, head coach Paul Patterson says that the Warriors simply need to continue improving their level of play as they’ve done since a 1-3 start. Patterson tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that untimely penalties and turnovers have prevented the team from reaching their full potential.

“Our goal tonight is to play our best football game of the year,” Patterson said. “We haven’t played our best game yet. We just want to take each moment one play at a time and try to put together our best football game of the year.”

Glenwood enters Week 9 with two straight wins against Dallas Center-Grimes and Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson, improving their record to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in District 6. Quarterback Cole Staudt leads the Rams with 1583 passing yards, 13 touchdown throws and seven rushing scores. He has been intercepted nine times.

Norwalk’s defense has helped key their current four-game winning streak, holding the opposition scoreless in 14 out of 16 quarters during district play. Patterson is hoping to see his team execute well on both sides of the ball tonight while continuing to play physical from start to finish. He is also looking for more game-changing plays on special teams.