The class 1A first round matchup between Pella Christian and Wilton lived up to the hype last night and the Eagles went on the road to stun the home crowd winning 31-28.

Special teams played huge in this one, as the Eagles blocked two Beaver punts in the first half that resulted in 10 Pella Christian points including Moises Carballo recovering one in the end zone for a touchdown. That was the only scoring from the Eagles in the first half and they led 10-7 at the break. In the second half the offenses cranked it up, as both scored on their opening drive including on a one-yard touchdown run by Dan Jungling. Cody Boender set the offense up nicely as he picked off a Jerome Mays pass and took it 25 yards to the one-yard line. Noah Treimer punched it in to give the Eagles a two score advantage. The Beavers would not go away however, marching right down the field and scoring. The play of the game came on the next drive when Pella Christian executed a fake punt to perfection and got a first down just pass midfield to set up another rushing score from Treimer. The senior battled through injuries but continued to deliver in the second half and finished with 136 rushing yards on 13 carries and the two scores. Assistant Coach Verlan Nikkel tells KRLS Sports the block punts were huge in the first half and something they thought they could exploit on tape.

“We saw on film that the punter was very deliberate and takes a few steps to kick. We thought we would have an opportunity to block one and fortunately we were able to get two and that was big in the first half.”

Pella Christian improves to 7-3 and advance to the quarterfinal round on Friday when they make the long haul to Bellevue to face the Comets (10-0).

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