After its first season opening victory since 2019, the Pella High football team will try to make it two in a row to start the season as they welcome Keokuk to town for their 2024 home opener tonight.

The Chiefs lost last week to Ottumwa, 47-26, while the Dutch engineered a fourth quarter rally to knock off Ballard, 29-17. When evaluating his team’s performance in the opener, Pella coach Jay McKinstrey says that his biggest takeaway was the fight they showed after falling down by eight in the second half.

“They’re competitors. We mentioned that at practice this week that they like to compete and I think that they took that as a challenge. To be able to take it down and score and make it 17-15 at least and get us back in there feeling good about that, I think that says a lot about our guys. I just like the way they kept fighting out there.”

McKinstrey says that the Dutch will have to fight hard tonight to slow down Keokuk’s dual threat senior quarterback Brenton Hoard. Under first year coach Marvin McNutt, Hoard was 10-of-28 for 200 yards passing and rushed 22 times for 93 yards last week, backing up a junior campaign in which he threw for 1,695 yards and rushed for 719 more, totaling 22 touchdowns.

Pella will try to remain balanced, hoping for continued growth out of first year quarterback Colin Kerndt, who threw for 130 yards and rushed for 25 in the win over Ballard, and they’ll lean heavily on junior running back Emmanuel Diers, who had 132 yards from scrimmage and the game sealing pick six.

As construction continues on Pella’s stadium, tonight’s game, and all 2024 home contests for the Dutch, will be played at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium on the Central College campus. Pregame coverage hits the air at 6:30 on the KRLS2 stream with kickoff at 7:00. Audio commentary will also be available with video on the Pella Dutch Live YouTube channel, with Trevor Castle and Randy Sikkema on the call.