A rapid succession of turnovers and big plays in the second half added drama to the ending of Friday night’s Class 2A District 8 match-up between Pella Christian and Bondurant-Farrar, with the Eagles hanging on for a 24-22 victory.

Up 10-3 at halftime, Pella Christian appeared to secure the game’s momentum with a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown by Nate Tvedt in the 3rd quarter. The Bluejays came right back, though, feeding off of a boisterous home crowd to score early in the 4th quarter. However, a missed PAT would provide some foreshadowing for things to come. The two teams each scored on long runs to make the score 24-16 Pella Christian with 5:33 remaining in the contest.

After the Eagles’ drive fizzled out, they elected to punt and count on the defense to close out the game; but Bondurant-Farrar marched down the field with a number of short passes and solid runs to score another touchdown and pull within 24-22 with :40 seconds remaining and needing to come up with a two-point conversion to try and send the game to overtime. PC’s defense clogged up the middle, though, and stuffed the Bluejays’ quarterback, Cale Geirhan, for a loss. Seconds later the Eagles’ would recover an onside kick and close out the game by kneeling to run out the clock.

Pella Christian was out-gamed in total yards 339-to-238 by the Bluejays, who put up 276 yards on the ground, but lost two costly fumbles and an interception. Pella Christian’s 208 yards of rushing was led by Caleb Morgan, who tallied 20 carries for 111 yards and a score. Nate Tvedt added the other two touchdowns for the Eagles and Will Vande Voort converted on a 31-yard field goal.

Pella Christian opens up district play with a 1-0 record and are 2-1 overall, entering a home game next week against Clarinda.

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