Pella Christian jumped out to a 14-0 lead and held on for a 14-12 win over Woodward Granger last night in a game heard live on the KRLS2 stream at www.kniakrls.com.

After Stone Turner forced a Hawks fumble on the opening drive of the game, the Eagles raced 84 yards to take the lead on a 34-yard Dan Jungling touchdown run.  Late in the second quarter, Jungling hit David Willis on a 48-yard pass to set up an 8-yard Jase Amelse touchdown, and Jungling’s two-point run gave the Eagles a 14-zip lead into the locker room.

But the Hawks fought back in the second half, scoring touchdowns in both the third and four quarters.  Bennett Spronk intercepted the two point pass after the first TD, and a fullback dive was stuffed at the goal line after the second score with 1:28 left in the game.

P.C. recovered the onside kick, picked up one first down, then put a knee on their fourth consecutive victory.  Assistant Coach Verlan Nikkel says that it was a well earned win.

“It was a tough nose football game tonight, there’s no doubt about it.  There was a lot of hard hitting going on down on the field between the two teams, and a lot of good plays made by both sides.  But fortunately we were able to keep them out of the end zone on their two two-point conversion tries and preserve the victory here tonight.”

The win improves Pella Christian to 4-4 on the season, and more importantly they’re 4-0 in class 1A district 7.  Up next is a matchup Friday night at I-35. A win and the Eagles are district champions, while a Roadrunner victory creates a probable three-way tie at the top of the standings that would likely keep P.C. out of the playoffs.

Dan Jungling ran 23 times last night for 154 yards, and completed 8-of-13 passes for 87 yards.  David Willis and Jase Amelse each had nine tackles for the Eagles defense.