Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

Making their 17th consecutive postseason appearance, the Pella Christian football team opens the Class 1A playoffs at #5 South Hardin tonight.

The Eagles secured the third spot in their district standings last week with a 35-0 shutout win over Colfax-Mingo. South Harden was second in the Class 1A District 4 standings, going 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the district. The Tigers lone loss came in a 35-0 defeat against #1 Grundy Center. In their seven victories, South Hardin outscored their opponents 306-73, with an average margin of victory of 33 points. Pella Christian head coach Rich Kacmarynski says his team has been well prepared for a tough test tonight, and says the Eagles will need to be at their best in all aspects of the game.

“We’ve played the best in 1A, we’ve played the best in 2A, so I think it’s given us game experience against good football teams. And there were moments in both of those games that we played well, we just weren’t able to sustain it and that’s been kind of our focus as we’ve kind of come down the stretch is, can we sustain good football in all three phases for more than just a couple moments.”

Coverage of the Pella Christian football team’s first round playoff game at South Hardin tonight can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS, beginning with Eagles Pregame at 6:30 pm. Kick-off will follow pregame coverage at 7 pm.