The season opener didn’t go quite as planned for Pella Christian as they committed seven turnovers and fell to Des Moines Christian 29-17 at Johnston last night in a game heard live on 92.1 FM KRLS.
The Eagle defense was strong early on stopping the Lions on their first two possessions, giving the offense a short field to work with, but despite moving the ball well and getting inside the red zone twice, they were unable to produce any points and the game was scoreless after one quarter.
On the Eagles first possession of the second quarter they drove 45 yards to the Lions five yard line but would settle for a 21-yard field goal from Will Vandevoort giving Pella Christian a 3-0 lead. The lead was short lived, though, as the Lions answered with a 45-yard touchdown pass just three minutes later, then added a 38 yard field goal as time expired in the first half to hold a 10-3 halftime lead.
The game changed quickly in the second half as Pella Christian suffered from “turnover-itis” on their first two possessions, leading to two Lions’ scores within fifteen seconds. First it was fumbling their opening possession deep in their own territory, then thrrowing an interception that was returned 40 yards for a score.
The Eagles finally got the offense rolling late in the third quarter as Caleb Morgan broke free for a 63-yard run which set up an 8 yard touchdown run by Dan Hessing pulling the Eagles within 23-10 heading into the fourth quarter. Des Moines Christian put the game away, scoring with 6:47 remaining, but the Eagles didn’t quit as Morgan scored on a one yard run with just thirteen seconds remaining to make it a 29-17 final.
Pella Christian totaled 315 yards led by Nate Tvedt who carried 16 times for 139 yards and also caught two passes for 27 yards, while Morgan tallied 97 yards on nine carries. Quarterback Dan Hessing struggled through the air completing just 4 of 13 passes with 4 interceptions. The Eagles are 0-1 and will play their home opener against Van Meter next Friday night.
GAME STATS:
First Downs: DMC 8…PC 14
Rushing (Att/Yds)….DMC 43/123…PC 42/259
Passing..(Att/Comp/Int) DMC 7/2/0 69 yds…PC 14/5/4 56 yds
TTL Offense (Plays/Yds)…DMC 50/192…PC 56/315
INDIVIDUAL STATS LEADERS
RUSHING (ATT/YDS)
DMC…Aaron Troll 11/53…Josiah Gates 6/23…Danny Clinton 1/20…TJ Sheely 10/14
PC…Nate Tvedt 16/139…Caleb Morgan 9/97…Derek Van Kooten 3/15…Dan Hessing 13/5..Caleb Frederickson 1/3
PASSING (ATT/COMPLETIONS/INT/YARDS)
DMC…Austin Stubbs 2/7/0/69 1TD
PC…..Dan Hessing 4/13/4/35….Adam Howerzyl 1/1/0/21
RECEIVING (No/Yds)
DMC..Tyler Osborn 1/45yds 1TD..Danny Clinton 1/24yds
PC…Derek Van Kooten 3/29yds…Nate Tvedt 2/27yds
TACKLES (Unassisted/Assisted)
PC…Josh Wetter 4/2…Collin DeBruin 5/0…Caleb Morgan 4/1…Nate Tvedt 3/1…Marcus Van Zee 3/0… Nick Arkema 3/0..Riley Stursma 2/1…Will Vandevoort 2/0…Zach Van Zee 2/0…Caleb Frederickson 2/0… Luke Callahan 2/0…Derek Van Kooten 1/1…Michael Mason 1/1…Dan Hessing 1/1…Alex Van Maanen 1/0…
Taylor Terpstra 1/0…Jacob Fincel 1/0
SCORING SUMMARY:
2nd qtr 9:20 remaining..PC..Will Vandevoort 21 yd FG…8 plays 45 yd drive…3-0 PC
2nd wtr 6:43 remaining..DMC..Austin Stubbs passes to Tyler Osborn 45 yds..1 play 45 yds…..7-3 DMC
2nd qtr :01 remaining..DMC…Ethan Zepp 38 yd FG…10-3 DMC
3rd qtr 8:44 remaining..DMC…Aaron Stroll 5 yd run…5 play 15 yd drive….16-3 DMC
3rd qtr 8:29 remaining…DMC…Cody Carlson 42 yd INT return…..23-3 DMC
3rd qtr :46 remaining…PC….Dan Hessing 8 yd run….3 plays 90 yd drive…..23-10 DMC
4th qtr 6:47 remaining…DMC…Aaron Troll 1 yd run….13 plays 75 yd drive……29-10 DMC
4th qtr :13 remaining….PC…Caleb Morgan 1 yd run….8 play 48 yd drive…..29-17 DMC