Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

The Pella Christian football team kicks off their season Friday night, and are preparing to face a difficult non-district schedule in their first year in Class 2A.

The Eagles open their campaign against a Roland-Story squad that went 6-3 and qualified for the 2A playoffs a year ago, before hitting the road to square off with a pair of Class 1A playoff teams from 2024. Pella Christian’s first road game of the season will be at Pleasantville in week two, and the Eagles will be back on the road in week three for a long road trip out west to face Treynor. In 2024, Pleasantville reached the 1A playoffs with a 6-3 record, including a 20-13 victory over Pella Christian in the district opener, while Treynor posted an 8-2 record while reaching the second round of the 1A postseason. Going into the season knowing his squad will be tested early, Eagles head coach Rich Kacmarynski believes that their scrimmage against Newton last Friday will benefit the team in non-district play.

“We have a tough schedule, but I think we have a nice football team. I think we’re going to be a very good football team by the end of the year. We’ve made a lot of progress here through the preseason and had a nice scrimmage with Newton. That was a really good test for us. Newton is a nice football team and I thought we did a nice job with them.”

Pella Christian’s season opener at home against Roland-Story Friday night can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS, or viewed live on the Pella Christian YouTube Channel.