The Pella Christian football team will look to climb the Class 1A mountain to advance to the quarterfinals on the road to Van Meter tonight.

Following a thrilling 21-19 win over Panorama, the Class 1A District 8 runner-up, this week the Eagles take on the champion Bulldogs, who ended P.C.’s season in 2019, and are on a remarkable run of five straight UNI Dome trips and only three total losses since the 2016 season — all of which happened in Cedar Falls.

That being said, Head Coach Rich Kacmarynski believes in the program built on Eagle Lane, that has 13 straight playoff appearances and a team doing all they can to prepare to pull off the upset. He believes the biggest key will be how the offensive front performs against a strong Van Meter defense that has given up just seven offensive touchdowns — and just two in the first half of games.

The other area to watch will be the turnover battle — the Bulldogs have not thrown an interception in their eight games and only five fumbles lost in the season, while the Eagles have generated 16 turnovers of their own, and in their six wins, have only turned the ball over twice.

Coverage from Van Meter High School for Pella Christian postseason football begins at 6:30 on 92.1 KRLS, with Andrew Schneider and JD Boer calling the action.