It was a Homecoming romp in Norwalk Friday night as the host Warriors used four touchdowns from Keilor Rodman and three pick-six scores to defeat Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson 62-6 in a game heard live on KNIA3.

Norwalk led 41-0 at halftime and played the entire second half with a running clock, improving to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in Class 4A, District 6. 

Rodman had a huge night offensively, hauling in first-half touchdown catches of 26, 7 and 60 yards and also scoring on a 12-yard run. He finished with six receptions for 138 yards. Defensively, the Warriors dominated up front and made big plays in the secondary as Will Clark, Holdyn Havick and Jamison Giesemann all returned interceptions for touchdowns.

Norwalk coach Paul Patterson tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that there are many things to clean up as the Warriors continue their drive for a playoff berth, but he is excited about the positives that emerged as the team bounced back from last week’s 17-7 loss at Dallas Center-Grimes.

“That was huge for us and that’s something that we needed to do,” Patterson said. “I don’t care what anybody says – high school kids and Homecoming is distraction city, so we needed to have a good night and we did, and I’m really excited for us to be here in this spot.”

Norwalk senior quarterback Aidan Harder completed 13-of-19 passes for 233 yards and three TDs to Rodman while Dominic Tigner and Eli Robbins both added scores on the ground. The Warriors punted on their first offensive series of the night but were basically never stopped again. Patterson says that the team’s biggest adjustment from last week was simply running the sets and plays that they are most comfortable with. Being comfortable then led to confidence and better execution.

Thomas Jefferson, which dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-3 in District 6, scored its only touchdown on Jayden Fujii’s 35-yard pass to Victor Atupra early in the second half.

With just two games left in the regular season, Norwalk will strive for a statement victory next Friday when they host district-leading Lewis Central at 7:00 p.m.