If the pollsters are to be believed, the Pella Chrsitian football team has its work cutout if they hope to keep it close tonight in the Highway 163 rivalry game.  PCM is the number one team in class 2A, coming off of a 44-18 route of Newton in week one, while the Eagles dropped their season opener to Des Moines Christian, 29-24.

Both teams are looking to make strides from those week one games to this week two matchup.  Mustang coach Greg Bonnett says that their biggest room for improvement comes on the third side of the ball.

“Special teams was basically horrendous last week, and the high point was probably (Tyler) Kuekcer throwing a two-point conversion off of a botched snap, if that tells you anything.  But I definitely think we’ll see improvements there tonight.”

For Pella Christian, the biggest area for improvement is in cleaning up mistakes.  Coach Rich Kacmarynski says that between three turnovers and three mistakes in the kicking game, the Eagles gave away six possessions last week.  Specifically, it’s his young players who he hopes can get things cleaned up tonight.

“Coach Staton, our first coach here, great coach, Hall of Fame coach, had a saying – ‘You can’t put an old head on young shoulders’.  We had some sophomores starting for the first time last Friday night, in fact, quite a few sophomores.  When you have sophomores, they’ll play great for a couple plays, but then they might have a bad play or a bust play.  But the good thing about playing young guys is that they tend to grow quickly.”

Trevor Castle and J.D. Boer will call all of the action tonight between PC and PCM from Pella Christian High School.  Pregame coverage starts at 6:30, with the opening kick at 7:30 on 92.1 KRLS.