Sometimes taking a step back to basics isn’t a bad thing, and after years of spreading out defenses with speed and dynamic playmakers, the Pella football team may have a more “rugged” approach to moving the chains this fall.

Head Coach Jay McKinstrey is back at the helm on offense as Blaine Forsythe takes over the girls basketball program and reduces some of his fall-time load, and while Jay knows the game has evolved significantly during his time, he believes a more traditional attack may be the best way to maximize the talent of the 2021 Dutch.

Pella will start with Blake Meyer at quarterback — the state track qualifier on the 4×100 flashed athletic potential in limited action in 2020, and will have a solid compliment of targets between Reece Thoreson, Caleb Briggs, and Preston Rowe. But McKinstrey feels the role of the passing game over the past few years may have reached beyond the core tenets of power football that lifted the program to new heights prior to the championship runs of the previous decade.

In addition to Meyer, Pella may try to move the ball at times with athletic sophomore Luke Hardman as well.

The Dutch will test some of their summertime theories and find some answers to offseason questions about the team this Friday at Norwalk, which can be heard on 92.1 KRLS.