Pella cruised to a 38-14 win over Keokuk to open the Class 3A playoffs Wednesday night, thanks in part to a quick start. Quinton Murphy recovered a Keokuk fumble and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown just 1:16 into the game to give Pella an early 7-0 lead. After Keokuk tied the game, Pella answered back with a 43-yard field goal from Seth Johnson and held a 10-7 lead after one quarter. The second quarter was the “Josh DeWaard Show” for Pella as the Senior quarterback scored two rushing touchdowns in :30 to give Pella a 24-7 halftime lead. The Little Dutch momentum carried into the third quarter, as they drove 80 yards on their opening possession, eating six minutes off the clock to take a 31-7 lead on DeWaard’s third rushing touchdown of the night. Head Coach Jay McKinstrey said that drive was important. “We wanted to be able to control the football and move the ball down-field and finish with points,” McKinstrey explained. “We talked about that a lot in the last three days. The drive that was really helpful to us was [the opening drive of the second half] and we used up six minutes and we finish it with a touchdown to go up 31 – 7. That was a big drive.” Pella racked up 368 total yards led by DeWaard’s 126 rushing yards as they improved to 7-3 overall. With the win, Pella now travels to Williamsburg for the second round of the Class 3A playoffs Monday night. You can hear the game live on 92.1 FM KRLS.