After weeks of preparation through the summer heat, the Iowa high school football season begins in earnest tonight with a ranked matchup in Class 4A in Norwalk. The #10 Warriors host #5 Pella in a battle of Little Hawkeye Conference teams.

Norwalk is coming off a 2-6 campaign in 2020, their first losing season since 2009. The Warriors return little experience in the skill positions, but have an Iowa Hawkeye commit on the defensive line in junior Maddux Borcherding-Johnson. Pella Head Coach Jay McKinstrey says last season was not indicative of the program Norwalk has, and expects a resilient opponent tonight.

“In the past decade, they’ve really been building a program. They’ve done some good things, and it’s not hard to see that. They’re well-coached, they have great athletes on their football team, they have size, year in and year out. They’re a high-quality opponent, and they’re going to be a challenge for us. We’re going to have to elevate to a high level of play really fast. Our kids are going to have to learn real soon. You practice against yourself for so long. Now you have to learn to play at their level and above it if you can.”

The Dutch bring back key playmakers on the offensive side of the football in runningbacks Nolan Clayberg and Aidan Pollock. Norwalk Head Coach Paul Patterson says keeping the defense off the field and sustaining drives is the key to limiting their damage.

“We’ve got to be ready to play. Thank goodness we were able to have a scrimmage on Friday, because I think that took away a lot of the shock, the awe and the excitement of stepping onto the field for the first time. The next thing is, how well do we execute, and that’s on both sides of the ball. Can we limit their big plays, figure out how to hang onto the football, put long sustained drives together with points at the end.”

It’ll be a battle between two quarterbacks in their first career starts, as senior Blake Meyer lines up under center for Pella, while junior Landon Hochstein gets the nod for Norwalk.

Tonight’s game will air on 92.1 KRLS with Jon Mohwinkle and Randy Sikkema on the call, with commentary also on the Norwalk Warrior Productions video stream. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30, with the opening kickoff from Mineart Field at Warrior Stadium scheduled for 7:30.