LAST MEETING — The Eagles posted a 49-8 win after rushing for 313 yards and four touchdowns while passing for 234 yards and three TDs. The Pella Christian defense limited W-G to only 106 rushing yards and just 66 yards through the air while intercepting three passes.
ABOUT THE HAWKS — W-G is coming off a 27-24 double overtime victory at No. 7 Pleasantville, putting them in position to reign as district champs if they can upset an extremely talented Pella Christian squad.
Brendan Bird is 25-63-6 for 517 yards and three TDs passing and will have to play his best game and not turn the ball over. His favorite targets have been J.P. Nixon (14-204, 1 TD), Bryce Achenbach (5-173, 1 TD) and Josh Saak (7-133, 3 TDs).
Payton Tague has scored 10 times while rushing for 870 yards on 162 carries. Austin Scharlau (83-477, 4 TDs), Bird (31-243, 3 TDs) and Saak (37-209, 4 TD) lead the ground game.
Scharlau has 61 tackles, Cole Carmen 51, Gabe Yingst 48 and Achenbach 42.5. The defense has recovered eight fumbles and intercepted six passes, returning three for scores. Senior linebacker Scharlau needs 2.5 stops to reach the 200-tackle mark for his career.
Sophomore punter Reese Jamison is currently second in Class 1A in average yards per punt (minimum 24 punts) at 38.3.
ABOUT THE EAGLES — Pella Christian is all that, and maybe more. The team has thrown for 11 TDs and 911 yards and is third in 1A in total rushing yards with 2,443, with 37 TDs coming from the ground game.
Hayden Vroom is 30-59-5 for 561 yards and seven TDs, with Dan Jungling 16-of-25 for 168 yards and two scores. Pella Christian has used four quarterbacks over the course of the season.
Sam Brouwer (16-198, 1 TD), Noah Tremier (6-197, 3 TDs), Kyle Fynaardt (7-145, 2 TDs) and Jayden Huisman (10-135, 1 TD) top the list of receivers.
Junior standout Tremier (5-11, 180) has exploded for 1,069 yards and 14 TDs on 106 carries. Vroom is a deadly threat to tuck the ball and run on the read-option, having scored 15 times and gained 816 yards on 67 totes. Moises Carballo rounds out the ground charge with 32 rushes for 236 yards and two scores.
Colton Uitermarkt’s 48 tackles leads the defense, with Tanner Randol making 40 stops. The unit has returned four of 14 interceptions for TDs and has fallen on three fumbles by the opposition.
OUTLOOK — W-G will have to play even better than they did last week, but the victory at Pleasantville has given the team confidence. It has also served as a warning shot to Pella Christian, who will not be taking the Hawks lightly.
While the Eagles have outscored the Hawks 385-231 through eight games, both teams are even on defense, each yielding 108 points.
W-G will have to avoid turnovers and shorten the game with efficiency in the running game. Tremier is good enough to beat the Hawks if he is allowed to run wild; the best shot for pulling the upset may be to forcing Vroom to win the game with his arm.
THE PLAYOFF SITUATION — Is, in a word, a mess. The winner is district champion, and, if W-G pulls the upset, then Pella Christian is the runner-up. A Pella Christian win throws the whole situation into a mess of varying murkiness.
The golden ticket for W-G is to win, or, barring that, to have Mount Ayr knock off host Interstate-35. The most likely scenario (on paper) is a three-way tie between W-G, I-35 and Pleasantville (who visits Central Decatur) all at 5-2, with each having defeated the other.
That scenario will then be decided by average margin-of-victory, a factor that should play in W-G’s favor, especially if they can keep a potential loss Friday to under 17 points. The mathematical rubrics can be confusing, but, entering Friday, the overall odds favor W-G.
There are two at-large playoff bids to be awarded in Class 1A, but playoff points appear to indicate District 2 and District 3 will grab those spots.
DISTRICT 5
| District | Overall | Point Diff Avg |
|||||
| Win | Loss | Tie | Win | Loss | Tie | ||
| Pella Christian | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 17.00 |
| Woodward-Granger | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 9.17 |
| Pleasantville | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 7.67 |
| Interstate 35 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 5.00 |
| Central Decatur | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | -1.50 |
| Mount Ayr | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -4.17 |
| Woodward Academy | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | -16.17 |
| Des Moines Christian | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | -17.00 |
Friday’s Game
(End regular season)
No. 2 Pella Christian at Woodward-Granger
Mount Ayr at Interstate 35
Pleasantville at Central Decatur
Woodward Academy at Des Moines Christian
