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FINALLY! Norway Knights Outlast NCA Jets, 32-26
 Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Ian Popp, Hayden Amundson, and NCA Coach Leo Gorzinski. Also click te AUDIO button to hear the halftime interview with NCA junior Aidyn Burton, and to hear a replay of the radio broadcast.
The Knights fell behind, 14-0, in the first quarter, but bounced back to beat the defending three-time defending state champion Jets, 32-26, for Norway's first-ever eight-man victory over NCA.
 Norway got three touchdown passes from junior quarterback Cole Baij, and senior running back Ian Popp scored three touchdowns (two on the ground, one in the air).
And the Knights took advantage of four NCA turnovers, to go along with nine Jets penalties that added up to 80 yards. Norway had zero turnovers and only three penalties in the contest, played under calm, chilly conditions at Ronberg Stadium.
“Our goal, since (last) winter when we started lifting and everything, to get ready and prepared, we had 'NC' duct-taped up in the locker room,” Norway senior linebacker Hayden Amundson said. “That was our goal, and we beat it. We based it off who wanted it more. This was something that we really, really wanted. This was a goal, and we did our best to complete that mission.”
“That was a very exciting game,” Norway senior running back Ian Popp said. “Usually, I get tired pretty fast, but I stuck 'er out. I was pumped. Me and Wyatt (injured star three-way player Spade) were in the weight room every single day. Me and him would come down to the field, and a couple other kids. That's what we had to do. We just had to grind hard. There's just no better feeling right now.”
While Popp scored three times on offense, Amundson was a beast on defense, making multiple tackles as NCA tried to ride the running of Lane Gorzinski to victory.
 Gorzinski carried the ball 36 times and rushed for a net 238 yards. But the rest of the team combined for less than 100 total yards of offense, and Gorzinski's three interceptions and fumble stalled a NCA attack that looked to have the game in control early on.
“Credit to those guys,” North Central Coach Leo Gorzinski said. “We came out and scored quickly and had everything under control, but we kind of sputtered a little bit and hurt ourselves. Boy, once they got life, I mean, when you score on fourth down, that's not quitting. We knew we would be in a dogfight, and it was a great football game tonight.”
Lane Gorzinski's 47-yard touchdown run, and Adrian Mercier's PAT kick, gave the Jets a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. Then, after Norway got one first down but had to punt, Gorzinski returned that punt to the Knights' 10 yard-line. Three plays later, Gorzinski found Jake Gorzinski in the end zone for a five-yard touchdown pass, and after Mercier's extra point kick, it was 14-0 Jets.
The teams exchanged punts twice, and midway through the second quarter, Jordan Walters broke off a 26-yard run to the Knights 45-yard line. But the drive stalled when the Jets were called for a chop block penalty, followed moments later by a holding penalty, and then on fourth down, Gorzinski threw the first of his interceptions.
 That switched the momentum of the game, and Norway started to get its passing game going. Baij threw two straight passes to Alex Ortman for 25 and nine yards, and then on third-and-ten at the 32-yard-line, Popp raced to the end zone for the first score of the game.
The Jets stopped the two-point conversion, so it stayed 14-6. But North Central turned it over again three plays later when senior lineman Riley Jacklovitz recovered a fumble, giving Norway the ball at midfield.
That's when the Knights made a big play downfield, when Baij hooked up with Ortman for a 33-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-22. That was a backbreaker for the Jets, and with 1:31 left in the half, the NCA lead was down to two at 14-12 at halftime.
It didn't take long in the third quarter for the Knights to grab the lead as Baij connected with sophomore Cam Varda for a 61-yard touchdown pass. And they pulled off some trickery as they threw a two-point pass to another sophomore, huge offensive lineman Maddex Burklund, to make it a 20-14 Norway lead.
North Central went on an 18-play, 65-yard drive from there, but made life tough on itself with four penalties on that drive alone (two holding calls, two false starts, both in the red zone).
 Finally, on 4th and 17 from the Norway 19-yard-line, Lane Gorzinski lofted one into the end zone that Jake Gorzinski dove and caught for a huge touchdown, tying the game at 20-20 with 37 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Knights, though, blocked Mercier's extra point kick that would have given the Jets the lead, so the game stayed tied heading into the fourth quarter.
The Knights then took advantage of an off-sides penalty on 4th-and-4, getting a free first down. The next play, Baij passed to Popp out of the backfield, and he took it to the house for a 43-yard touchdown. The two-point run was stuffed by Hunter Robinson, but Norway had a 26-20 lead with 10:51 left in the game.
North Central then went on a 13-play drive, most of it with Lane Gorzinski on the ground, but on 4th-and-9 and the Norway 18-yard-line, Gorzinski's pass was too long in the end zone, and the Knights took over with just over four minutes to play.
And it was Popp who put the exclamation point on the biggest Norway football win in years, as he took a hand-off and sprinted 81 yards for the touchdown. Norway was up 32-20 with 3:38 left, and that pretty much sealed it.
“Our offensive linemen were kind of struggling tonight because their defensive linemen are really good,” Popp said. “So, our run game wasn't getting going. But I saw the cutback, and I just hit it, and it was there. It was awesome. There is no better feeling than that.”
 The Jets didn't fold, as Lane Gorzinski led a 70-yard drive that was almost entirely him rushing the football (despite clearly limping with hand and groin injuries).
That set off a celebration that included a big hug for Spade, a Michigan Tech University recruit who blew out his knee two weeks ago and watched the rivalry game on the sidelines in crutches.
“It was an emotional moment for all of us,” Amundson said. “I mean, it sucks not having him, and I think about the things we could have did with him, but, I mean, he's still a brother to us. We're just gonna play the game for him.”
NCA's coach, Leo Gorzinski, says his guys made too man mistakes as the Jets fell to 6-2 on the season with a tough game at Forest Parl next Friday night.
“It's been the thing that we've preached all year with this team,” he said. “We just can't overcome the little things. We've got to do the little things right. It's just a depth thing. It's not that our kids aren't good enough, it's attrition. By the end of the game, those little things add up. That seems to be our Achilles heal.”
Norway improved to 6-2 on the season and will host Stephenson next weekend to end the regular season. 
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