A first major step has officially been taken in No. 2 Pella’s path to three straight championships after their emphatic 38-0 victory over No. 3 Norwalk.

Big stops on defense led to three lengthy touchdown plays in the first quarter as heard live on 92.1 KRLS. After those 19 points, the game went seemingly on pause after Warriors star Brady Brandsfield left in 2nd quarter with a leg injury, before the Dutch pulled away in the final half to get continuous clock late in the 4th quarter.

Head Coach Jay McKinstrey says the defense’s work in halting Norwalk on every scoring chance kept the game from falling into the opposition’s hands.

“They are going to move the ball some, that was just going to happen,” he says. “But you get closer to the endzone, our coaches do such a great job in certain things that they do when the field gets shrunk a little bit, and they certainly locked it down.”

Avery Van Zee left the game with an injury after he scored the first points of the game, and his status will be determined at practice next week.

The Little Dutch virtually clinched the district title with the victory, earning their 35th win in a row overall to get to 7-0. They’ll hold senior night next against North Polk.

KEY PLAYERS:
Nick Finney – 10/19, 270 yds passing, 114 yds rushing, 4 total TD
Donovan Holterhaus – 4 catches, 151 yards, TD, Def. INT
Ryan Van Wyk – 4 catches, 59 yards, TD
Pella Defense – 200 yards allowed, five sacks, three turnovers forced

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