Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Regina (5-3) at Class 1A No. 7 Pella Christian (7-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Pella Christian High School  

It is win or go home time for teams in Class 2A, 1A, A and 8-player with postseason play opening in those four classes on Friday.

Over the past decade plus this is the time of year that Regina has thrived.

One of the most successful programs in the state at any level Regina has been a regular in the UNI-Dome of the past decade and is seeking an extended playoff stay this season after a loss in the second-round last year.

The postseason path for the Regals is rugged starting with a road trip to seventh-ranked Pella Christian for a Class 1A opening-round slugfest on Friday.

These two perennial 1A powers meet for the first time since 2019, a game won by Regina 45-13.

Players to Watch

Regina – Ronan Poynton

This game has all the makings of a slugfest and few prep players embrace that style more than Poynton.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior linebacker is built for physical football and that is the style that Pella Christian wants to play.

Poynton has been a force in the middle of the Regina defense this season making a team-high 51.5 tackles including 41 solo stops and two tackles for loss.

Where Poynton really excels is between the tackles jamming up opposing running games.

He will need to be at his best on Friday against a Pella Christian running game that ranks third in Class 1A in yards per game.

Pella Christian – Isaac Kacmarynski

Kacmarynski is a quarterback and linebacker but the most accurate term from the Pella Christian senior is just – football player.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Kacmarynski is a playmaker that must be accounted for on both sides of the ball.

He has completed 50-of-80 passes for 742 yards and eight touchdowns with just one interception but does most of his damage on offense in the run game where he has carried 82 times for 873 yards and 15 touchdowns.

On defense Kacmarynski has made a team-high 48.5 tackles including 40 solo stops and eight tackles for loss and has also returned an interception for a touchdown.

Keys to the Game

Regina – Stop the Run

Sometimes you’ve got to keep it simple.

You can sift through all the stats and dig through all the data that exists to find interesting nuggets on these two teams that could potentially sway the outcome.

The biggest key sits right at the front of every stat you see.

Regina must stop the run.

Pella Christian enters ranked third in Class 1A averaging nearly 310 yards per game on the ground and have 41 rushing touchdowns on the season.

Kacmarynski and junior running back Benny Schirz have combined for 1,760 yards and 30 touchdowns and Regina must keep those two in check.

In it’s lone loss this season, a 15-13 setback at Sigourney-Keota, Pella Christian was limited to 180 yards on the ground.

Regina is battle tested against good ground games after facing two of the better backs in 1A in West Branch senior Andy Henson and the state’s leading rusher in Nolan DeLong of Durant the past two weeks.

Despite facing those two Regina is still allowing just 134 yards per game on the ground.

Stopping the Pella Christian run game will be a team effort for Regina.

Sigourney-Keota ran 60 plays on offense in its win over Pella Christian compared to just 42 for the Eagles.

If the Regina offense can control the ball that keeps the football away from an Eagle offense that wants to wear on opponents.

Pella Christian – Finish Drives     

Pella Christian has lost back-to-back postseason games to Regina by two points, 37-35 in the 2017 semifinals and 45-43 in Iowa City in the 2016 quarterfinals.

Don’t expect that type of score this time.

Everything about this game points to a low possession, low scoring slugfest.

Two teams that know each other well that love to run the ball and play great defense doesn’t scream lots of scoring.

Every possession in this game is going to be important even drives that don’t end with points can flip field position.

The key for Pella Christian will be finishing drives, not just with touchdowns but with points.

The Eagles have an excellent kicker in senior Jack Fancher who has connected on 3-of-4 field goals with a 47 yarder.

With points likely to be at a premium on Friday cashing in on scoring opportunities is going to be of the utmost importance.

Both teams – Beware the Big Play

It has been discussed already.

Both teams want to run the ball, control the clock and keep the other team’s offense off the field.

Pella Christian and Regina both do that well.

However both teams have proven this season they have players in the passing game capable of making explosive plays.

For Regina that is junior Jackson Naeve.

For Pella Christian it is junior Trevor Veenstra.

They have different builds but excel in the same thing, stretching defenses that want to crowd the line of scrimmage to stop the run game.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Naeve has 27 receptions for 477 yards and eight touchdowns while emerging as the Regals big play threat.

Veenstra, a 6-4, 240-pound mismatch in coverage is averaging 26.1 yards per reception and has seven of the eight receiving touchdowns for Pella Christian this season.

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