After finishing the regular season 6-3 and earning the fourth seed out of Class 3A District 6, Pella travels to Williamsburg, the Class 3A District 5 champion tonight for a sub state matchup. Coach Jay Mckinstrey says even though Pella is a fourth seed and an underdog tonight, he feels the caliber of competition Pella faced on a weekly basis in their district is a big plus. He says the Raiders are a very physical, hard hitting team that loves to run the football. They’ve rushed for over 2500 yards this season led by Cord Slaymaker who has 1666 yards and 21 touchdowns, but Mckinstrey says if Pella can sustain him and force the Raiders to pass that’s where the Raiders struggle.

Pella will play the rest of their season without leading receiver Richie Bales who suffered a broken leg in Friday’s win at Norwalk. Mckinstrey says Bales is a huge loss to their offense, but to win they have to find ways to throw the football successfully and to do that they plan to switch things around tonight to try and open up some passes. He says the Williamsburg defense is the best Pella has faced all season and Pella will have to match their level of play early on to stay in the game. You can hear tonight’s game broadcast live on 92.1 FM KRLS and streamed live on kniakrls.com with Jamie Brockman and Randy Sikkema starting with the pre game at 6:30pm and kickoff at 7pm. The winner will face either Grinnell or Fairfield Monday night.