Photo by Minnesota State Athletics Department

After a dominating win Saturday, two Pella football alumni will now be competing for college football championships this coming weekend. Class of 2015 Pella graduate Garret Jansen led the Minnesota State football team’s defense with eight tackles in a 58-15 NCAA Division II semifinals win over Slippery Rock. It was the best performance to date for the senior, who also added 1.5 tackles for loss. Jansen and the Mavericks will compete in the Division II National Championship this Saturday at 2 p.m. in McKinney Texas. Jansen was an All-State lineman for the 2014 Pella Football undefeated 3A state champions.

A more recent Pella High graduate will also be competing for a national championship this weekend. After a bye week, Chase Carter, a freshman kicker with Morningside, will play for an NAIA Title for the defending champions. Carter is 72 of 75 on PATs and 6 of 9 on field goal tries this season. No. 1 Morningside will play against No. 2 Marian at Louisiana Tech University on Saturday at 6 p.m. Carter was 47/48 on point after tries and four of five on field goal makes for the 2018 Pella football team.