The Pella football team overcame an error-prone first half last night to come away with a close 17-7 victory over Dallas Center-Grimes. Things looked great for the Little Dutch at the beginning, though, as they held the Mustangs to a three-and-out, then drove the ball down the field and scored on a 29-yard touchdown run by Teag Klyn just under halfway through the opening quarter.

After that, though, Pella committed a number of uncharacteristic penalties and turned the ball over twice, while the Mustang’s defense held strong. Following a dropped punt by Pella, Dallas Center-Grimes strung together a series of successful plays, capped off by a 22-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Peyton that knotted the game up at 7-7 going into halftime.

Both teams emerged with solid defenses in the third quarter, and the game remained tied entering the final quarter, with the Little Dutch driving. With 11:20 remaining in the contest, Pella chose to go for a field goal to take the lead, with Blake Bogaard converting from 27 yards out for his first score field goal of the season to make it 10-7.

On the ensuing possession, Pella’s special teams unit came up with a blocked punt on the Mustangs to get back the football with a short field, and scored a few plays later on an impressive 27-yard pass reception by Josh Pringle at the goal line. With the score at 17-7 in favor of Pella, the Little Dutch defense continued its strong play in the second half, ultimately closing out the game on an interception by Nick Dorman.

Pella finished the night with 266 yards of total offense – 191 of which came on the ground. The Dutch defense gave up its first touchdown since October 8th, but still held the Mustangs to only 169 yards of total offense. Alan Pfadenhauer led the Pella ground game with 49 yards on 9 carries, while quarterback Teag Klyn rushed for 46 yards and a touchdown, while completing 6-of-12 passes for 75 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Pella now advances to the second round of the Class 3-A Playoffs, where they will face A-D-M. The game will be held at Pella High School on Monday night, with kickoff at 7:00 p.m.