Published: October 27, 2008 01:13 pm            

Pella, PC notch wins

Pella Christian received a morale boost prior to the start of district competition.

The PC Eagles won the Chariton Invitational by scoring 56 points in the varsity girls' competition.

The Eagles were followed in the team standings by Pleasantville with 68 and Lynnville-Sully at 87.

The leader for the Eagles was freshman Sarah Brandsen in 3rd place with a time of 16:18 over the 2.5 mile course.

The next PC runner to finish was Leah Dykstra in 10th at 17:17, Emily Van Hal 12th at 17:36 and Michaela Martin 13th at 17:37. The fifth to finish for Coach Jocelyn Meinders' squad was Heather Brand in 18th at 18:35.

Also running for PC but not counting in the team total were Abigail Fincel in 23rd at 18:53 and Kelsie Van Kooten 24th at 18:58.

In JV action Emily Van Gelder was 8th at 21:23. Maria Van Wolde and Madision Fopma ran for the PC Middle School squad and they finished fourth and sixth respectively.

Conner Van Walbeek didn't run for the PC boys as he is nursing an injury and the Eagles were second behind Albia. The Blue Demons scored 51 points and PC accumulated 53. Chariton, Pleasantville, Lynnville-Sully, Davis County and Centerville rounded out the field.

Josh Meyer won the 3.2 mile varsity boys' race in 17:47. The rest of the PC varsity scoring had Skyler Giddings in 6th at 19:08, Devin Veenstra 7th at 19:10, Jacob Dahm 12th at 19:27 and Colt Freese 27th at 20:45.

Also running but not counting in the team total were Jon Lensing in 31st and Micah Spoelstra 34th.

In JV action Trevor Bernhagen was 13th and Seth Ruiter 24th for the Eagles.

In Middle School action Derek Van Kooten won the race for PC, Zack Giddings was second, Austin VerMeer fifth, Riley Stursma sixth and Caleb Morgan 19th.









Pella claimed the 2008 Class 3A District 5 football championship with a solid 58-7 win over the Knoxville Panthers Friday night at Ken Locke Memorial Stadium in Knoxville.

While the Dutch sewed up a title, the Panthers were fighting turnovers and a rash of injuries.

"The first few series we moved the ball, we just couldn't finish," replied Knoxville Coach Chris Hudson.

"They (Pella) were a very good football team, give them credit. We need to focus on getting healthy now for our final game of the season against South Tama," Hudson said.

Pella forced the Panthers into five turnovers in the game. Pella had two fumble recoveries from linebacker Matt Meyers.

Myers also had two pass interceptions for the Dutch while sophomore Alan Pfadenhauer added one interception.

A fumble at the Knoxville six set up the first Pella score of the night as Marcus Haustein plowed his way into the end zone from six yards out for a quick 7-0 Pella advantage.

Pella starting quarterback Blaine Forsythe threw just 11 passes, completing seven, five of them were touchdown strikes.

Steven Overbergen had three receptions for 92 yards and three scores. The senior scored on receptions of 44, 8 and 40 yards all in the first half.

Andrew Ter Louw caught a 7-yard touchdown pass and Richie Bales added a 52-yard reception that he turned into a touchdown to round out a 44-point Pella outburst in the first half.

Toss in a safety that saw Pella tack on two more points on a punt attempt that saw the ball sail into the end zone over the KHS punter's head in the second quarter.

Pella held quarter leads of 14-0, 44-0, 51-7 and 58-7 in the battle of Class 3A Marion County schools.

Second half scoring consisted of Teag Klyn scoring on an 8-yard run in the third quarter for Pella.

Knoxville's Harlan Sytsma blasted past the Pella defense for a 70-yard run with 8:44 left in the game.

The final score of the night was a 40-yard interception return by Pfadenhauer with 2:23 left in the contest.

Pick up a copy of the Oct. 23 Chronicle to read the rest of the story.

        

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