Published: October 10, 2008 03:47 pm            

Pella does battle with Grinnell

Something had to give when the top two teams in Class 3A District 6 met on the gridiron last Friday night.

Statistics obtained from the district showed the Grinnell Tigers leading the way statistically in the district entering week number six.

The Tigers had 1875 yards of total offense entering the game with the Pella High Little Dutch, while the green and white had 1,564 yards of offense.

The two teams ranked second and third statistically when it came to defense.

Pella made the trip to Grinnell and when the dust had settled the Dutch had a convincing 29-0 shutout over the Tigers.

Pella moved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the district while the Tigers slipped to 5-1 and 3-1 in the district with the loss.

The Pella defense forced three fumbles to help the offense obtain good field position throughout the night.

Marcus Haustein ran for 127 yards on 28 carries. Haustein scored twice on runs of 12 and 2 yards and Austin Steenhoek plowed into the end zone from a yard out.

In the air, quarterback Blaine Forsythe was 11-of-14 passing for 163 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The touchdown pass was to Steven Overbergen.

Pella used a well balanced offense with 190 yards rushing and 163 passing for a total of 353 yards of offense.

Grinnell was limited by Pella's defense as a one-dimensional squad. The Tigers ran for 169 yards and passed for only 15 yards for a total of 184 yards of offense.

Grinnell's Jake O'Polka led the district in rushing yards entering the contest with 738 yards. O'Polka gained 91 yards against Pella on 20 carries.

Pella's Marcus Haustein was second in the district for rushing yards with 575. Haustein rambled for over 100 yards as he totaled 127.

Pella controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football, paving the way to the lopsided win on the road.

Not only did Pella win the game on offense and defense, but the Dutch came up big with special teams.

Forsythe kicked a 21 yard field goal to open the second half to put the Dutch up 16-0 entering the final quarter.

Overbergen returned four punts in the game for 98 yards, an average of 24.5 yards per return. He also led the Dutch in receiving with four receptions for 78 yards.

Andrew Ter Louw recovered two fumbles and led the Dutch with 11 tackles. Ter Louw, who has been sidelined with injuries this fall, recorded three quarterback sacks.

Conner Kelderman also recovered a fumble for the Dutch defense. Kelderman was one of three Pella players with seven tackles in the game. matt Meyers and Stephen Vander Wert also had seven stops.

With only three games left in the regular season the Dutch appear ready to snatch one of the four district playoff berths on the line.

Up Next

The Dutch play host to South Tama Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Trojans enter the game 0-4 in the district and 0-6 overall.

        

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