PELLA — Playing hard and well enough to win a game and not winning it, is disheartening.
Pella Christian’s Eagles were up 13-0 over visiting Ogden’s Bulldogs Friday night. They just hold the Bulldogs at bay for one more quarter.
They couldn’t, losing the Class 1A, District 7 game 14-13. The loss dropped the Eagles to 1-2 in district play and 3-3 overall
“It’s frustrating because we played hard enough and well enough to win. And, we didn’t,” said Rich Kacmarynski, Pella Christian head coach. “It’s hard to figure out how it happened late in the game.”
Senior running back Mason Howerzyl scored on a 13-yard run in the second quarter to put the Eagles on the scoreboard. The extra-point kick failed to leave it at 6-0, and that was where it stood at halftime.
In the third quarter, Howerzyl found paydirt again from eight yards out. Jacob Brouwer kicked the extra point for a 13-0 lead.
Howerzyl rushed for 153 yards on 35 carries, and had one reception for 20 yards.
Colten Collins was 4-of-9 passing for 81 yards. Collins was intercepted in the fourth quarter, which the Bulldogs turned into a touchdown. Josh Posthuma made two catches for 49 yards for the Eageles. Carson Dugger had one catch for 12 yards.
“We had the key turnover in the fourth quarter. We forced them to go 80 yards to score at the end, and they did. We had stopped them all night then couldn’t on this final drive,” Kacmarynski said.
Leading the Eagle defense was Zach Van Zee with nine solo tackles and four assisted tackles, and one quarterback sack. Andrew Vander Hart recorded eight solo stops and two assisted tackles.
Zack Rosendaal had four unassisted tackles and two assisted tackles, while Levi Jungling had four solo tackles and one assisted tackle.
Pella Christian travels to Van Meter this coming Friday.