Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

Coming into the 2023 season, there were a lot of unknowns around the Pella Christian football program.

Coming off a top-eight finish in Class 1A in 2022, the Eagles graduated eight starters on both offense and defense. Despite losing many key pieces that led Pella Christian to the doorstep of the UNI-Dome last fall, the Eagles nearly reached that stage of the playoffs again this season. After finishing the regular season 6-2, Pella Christian advanced to the Round of 16, where they fell to Grundy Center. Reflecting on what led the Eagles to another successful season, head coach Rich Kacmarynski said that the team’s growth was a key factor.

“You know I think we started the year saying, we needed to kind of be in this for the long haul. We had a young team starting the year and we thought, well, we have good athletes and we have good teamwork, good attitudes, so if we just keep working and keep growing, I think that’s kind of what materialized if you looked at our season. I thought our team just grew tremendously, I thought our staff grew tremendously, so I thought it was a very successful year.”

Pella Christian ended the season with a 7-3 record and will say goodbye to 10 seniors.