I-35 won the class 1-A District 7 championship game 21-18 over Pella Christian last night in a game heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

The Roadrunners put together three scoring drives of 12 plays or longer that took a combined 18 minutes off the clock, and they controlled the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game.

Eagles Assistant Coach Verlan Nikkel credits I-35 for a solid game plan and good execution that kept his defense on the field for too much of the night.

“Every time we would get ‘em to third and long, they would come get a first down out of it. Even that one time they had a 10-yard penalty and were backed up into a third and long, they still got a first down out of it and ended up scoring. Hats off to them, they did a great job, they made some adjustments to their game plan tonight. We had some adjustments too, and our guys battled hard. We left some opportunities out on the field, but I-35 probably did too.”

The Roadrunners took the lead on a first quarter touchdown, only to see the Eagles come right back with a Noah Treimer two-yard run to tie the score. Late in the first half, a running into the kicker penalty on a missed field goal allowed I-35 to keep a drive alive and score a touchdown to go into the locker room up 14-7.

Pella Christian’s Lawson Bruxvoort intercepted a third quarter pass, leading to a Nathan DeBruin field goal, but the Roadrunners followed it up with a nearly eight minute touchdown drive for a two score lead.

A furious fourth quarter rally saw Kyle Fynaardt take it into the end zone for a two yard score, and the Eagles defense came up with a pair of crucial stops, but a desperation deep ball by Dan Jungling was intercepted to seal Pella Christian’s fate.

The loss drops the Eagles to a final regular season mark of 6-3 and a 4-1 runner-up finish in the district.