The Pella Christian football team begins their season tonight on Eagle Lane, hosting Roland-Story in the season opener.

Tonight’s meeting between the Eagles and Norseman will be the first ever game between the two schools. Roland-Story is coming off a 6-3 campaign in 2024, in which they qualified for the Class 2A playoffs. Pella Christian head coach Rich Kacmarynski says that it can be a little nerve-racking playing an opponent for the first time, but adds that they have been focusing internally to prepare for the season opener.

“Well there’s always a little bit of anxiousness going into the first game, when you have when you’re playing somebody you haven’t played before. But I think our focus here at Pella Christian football for a long time has been to focus on things that we can control, things that we have influence over, which is ourselves. So, that’s kind of been our process and that’s what we’ve been really focused on this week.”

Kacmarynski adds that no matter what either team tries to do tonight, the battle in the trenches between the offensive and defensive lines will be the catalyst for whichever team comes out on top.

“That’s been a point of emphasis all week and I think that’s probably going to be the key to the game tonight, is who can play with a lower pad level and who can win on the line of scrimmage. Because as we all know, whether you’re going to run it or you’re going to throw it, that all starts up front.”

Coverage of Pella Christian football against Roland-Story tonight can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS and on the Pella Christian YouTube channel beginning at 6:30 p.m.