As Pella gets ready to embark on the 2017 football season next Friday night, many people are focused on the fourth longest winning streak in Iowa history.

The three-time defending class 3-A state champions have won 41 consecutive games, and coach Jay McKinstrey says it’s something fans are acutely aware of.

“You hear it from everybody else – I heard it this morning from someone – ‘Hey, keep that streak going’. And we’d rather than be there than have it the other way, but I’m sure our guys feel some of that pressure, they have to.”

McKinstrey says that while it’s cliché, they’ll be focusing on winning one play at a time, which is what results in winning one game at a time.

In his 21st year, McKinstrey continues to draw on experiences from early in his career. He remembers the 2002 team that lost to Atlantic in the state quarterfinals, and says he put too much pressure on that team on an opponent-by-opponent basis.

While they still focus on what their opponents do tactically, McKinstrey says that they no longer put the pressure on beating any particular team, but rather doing the right things that allow you to win games.

The first team to get a crack at ending Pella’s streak this season is Oskaloosa, next Friday night in Osky.