Three years ago, Pella’s freshman football team went 2-6-1. Last week, the class of 2018 finished their football careers with a runner-up finish in the state and an 11-2 record during their senior season.

After graduating multiple all-state players from each of the previous three state championship teams, the expectations on this year’s team were tempered. Coach Jay McKinstrey says that made another trip to the title game even more enjoyable.

“I don’t think anybody foresaw us having a chance to get that far this year, but this year’s group kept getting better and better and better. And they gelled well with the younger guys, which really made it a special year.”

With the trip to the state championship game, Pella became just the seventh different school in Iowa to play in four straight title games.

They’ll return five starters on offense and three on defense as they look to make it five in a row next fall.