Despite their ability to seemingly score on teams at will over the last few seasons, an inconsistent defense has kept the Eagles football team from potential UNI Dome appearances.
Head Coach Rich Kacmarynski says a majority of his starters are back on defense — but need to show big strides of improvement. He says stopping teams from running will be a big key with some of the teams they’ll face in the newly formed district — which starts up front.
“We have Jackson Flagel back, which we are excited about, Jackson was one of our leading tacklers from the defensive end spot,” he says. “We also have Matthew Vermeer back and Steven Hardge, so we have three senior starting defensive linemen back.”
It’s also a key group in the linebacking core that Coach Kacmarynski will lean on, including his son David and Sam Fredrickson, who assumed a leadership role last year after David was sidelined by injury.
“He is another year older and another year stronger,” Kacmarynski says. “He went out for wrestling again this past winter, and has really gotten into that, and great wrestlers make great tacklers, I’ve always felt.”
The Eagles will also feature Connor Dunsbergen and Max Kolb on the edges of the 3-4 front seven look.
Pella Christian faces rival PCM in Week 1 on August 26th, but travel to Knoxville for a scrimmage first this Friday night.

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