It took the work of digging themselves out of an early hole, but the Pella football team kept themselves steady in a comeback win 33-23 over Gilbert to clinch a spot in the postseason for the first time in Class 4A, as heard live on 92.1 KRLS Friday.

The Tigers opened the game with a 15-play, 85-yard drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock and got the home team up early. A Pella safety on their first play in their own endzone would follow, and Gilbert scored again in dominating fashion on the subsequent series to put the Dutch behind 16-0 in the first quarter.

In a style unusual for the green and white, Pella used ball control and their ground attack to work their way to a three-point game at the half. After the two squads traded stops to begin the third quarter, another dominating Dutch drive gave the road team their first lead. Gilbert countered quickly with a long Connor Rash rushing touchdown to take the advantage back in the second half.

From there, Pella scored the final two times of the game, with another timely defensive stop in-between. Nate Warner iced the contest with an interception in the endzone late in the 4th quarter.

It was the Luke Hardman show again behind his solid offensive line, as the All-State caliber quarterback ran for 172 yards and threw for 171 while completing 75% of his passes, scoring five rushing touchdowns in the performance.

FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

Pella moves to 6-3 in 2023 and makes the playoffs for the first time since Class 4A was reorganized following the 2020 season. The Dutch will be on the road in the round of 16 against a foe to be determined at 10:00 this morning.