The best moment of the 2017-18 school year for Pella Christian athletics was when the clock hit zero in the Class 1A state football playoff quarterfinals on Eagle Lane.

The Eagles qualified for the state semifinals–and in turn, their first trip to the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, after crushing Pleasantville 44-6. It was pure dominance in a regular season district title game rematch.

Head Coach Rich Kacmarynski tells KNIA/KRLS Sports it was a moment they’d been working toward since he started as head coach a decade ago, with many alumni contributing to get to that point.

“Our alumni have done such a great job of building this program. I told the kids that they’re standing on the shoulder of giants, and it was such a blessing to have all those alumni there last weekend supporting us when we played Pleasantville. It’s an incremental thing. This program has been built brick by brick, year by year, team by team, teammate by teammate. And it’s a real gratifying feeling to look and see what everyone has accomplished here at Pella Christian.”

Pella Christian finished 2017 at the Dome in an epic showdown with Regina the next week in a 37-35 loss, after their second consecutive undefeated regular season.