Though he would have liked to start the season winning those first three non-district games, Pella High head football coach, Jay McKinstrey, was very happy with how his Little Dutch played at the start of the season. McKinstrey told KNIA/KRLS sports that his team was still trying to discover who they were at the beginning of the season and were trying several different things to get on the right track before they started playing the games that mattered playoff-wise. Pella would go 1 – 2 in those non-district games, with the one victory being an overtime winner over Washington. McKinstrey also said that he knew his defense would have to carry the team while they were trying to get things going on offense, and that’s exactly what they did in district play, going 6 – 1 with a second place finish, and ending the season with a record of 7 – 4.