Photo by Troy Hugen

After shutting out Iowa City Regina 31-0 to advance to the Round of 16 in the Class 1A playoffs, the #7 ranked Pella Christian football team travels to Jewell tonight to take on South Hamilton first the first time ever.

Much like the Eagles, South Hamilton cruised to an easy 54-12 victory over Ridge View in the opening round of the playoffs. The Hawks led just 8-6 at the end of the first quarter, but scored 46 points unanswered, while their wishbone offense amassed 437 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground in the win. With both teams having physical and successful run games, Pella Christian head coach Rich Kacmarynski believes the lineman will determine the outcome in tonight’s game.

“Well, I think it’s gonna come down to winning the line of scrimmage on both sides, turnover margin and then obviously perseverance. I think this will be a war of attrition, who can be the last man standing, so to speak. Kind of like a Rocky movie type of thing, who can be the last one punching at the end. So again, I like our game plan. We gotta go out and execute. But we’ve got a great team and if we do that, I think things will go in our favor.”

Coverage from South Hamilton High School tonight can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS and the free KNIA/KRLS app, beginning with the Smash Park Radio Pregame Show at 6:30. Kickoff will follow at 7.