Cobras Slide Past Pella Christian, 42-21

Zach Guffey recovers a fumble for Sigourney-Keota

Written by Clint Dye

After their 42-21 victory over Pella Christian last Friday, October 4, Sigourney-Keota head Jared Jensen said five words to his team.

“It’s there for the taking.”

What the long time Cobra coach is referencing is the Cobras opportunity for a fifth straight District Championship. 

After back to back victories over the top two contenders in the Iowa Class 1A District 6 title race, the Cobras sit firmly in the driver's seat towards accomplishing that goal. 

Friday’s contest with the rival Eagles of Pella Christian began much like the previous weeks, Sigourney-Keota taking the early lead en route to a victory. 

Opening the scoring for the Cobras was senior Isaac Bruns who scored his first of four total touchdowns on an eleven yard run. 

Brady Clark carries the ball for Sigourney-Keota

A fumble recovery by Cobra senior Zach Guffey brought Pella Christian’s second possesson to an end. The turnover came at an opportune time as the Eagles were threatening inside the Cobra ten yard line. 

In the second quarter Bruns struck again, this time he was on the receiving end of a 35 yard touchdown pass from junior Brayden Wood. 

Bruns would get the hat trick of scores before halftime, scoring on a one yard touchdown run with just over three minutes left in the second quarter.

Pella Christian wouldn’t go down without a fight in this contest, scoring on their next possession.  

Quick to respond, Sigourney-Keota extended the lead to 28-7 when junior Jacob Libe scored on a five yard touchdown run. 

Senior Jax Weber #70 clears a path for his runner.

The Eagles had a chance to get back into the game scoring right in the final seconds of the first half followed by an onside kick recovery to start the third quarter. However the Cobra defense would later stop them on a fourth down conversion deep in their own territory once again. 

Making a big stop like that was something Jensen felt was a huge momentum swing into their favor. 

“That could’ve turned the game around for them,” Jensen said. “We took care of business after giving them a couple opportunities. That was a huge play for us to take back the momentum.”

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but in the fourth Bruns picked up his fourth touchdown of the game, a 16 yard touchdown run. 

Fellow senior Brady Clark put the icing on the cake with a 37 yard touchdown run of his own. 

Once again the Cobra running game was in top form as the group finished with 402 rushing yards between six ball carriers. 

Bruns led the way with his second consecutive 200 yard game. He carried the ball 31 times for 232 yards with three scores. In the passing game, Bruns hauled in two catches for 59 yards with one touchdown.

 Isaac Bruns had his second consecutive 200 rushing yard performance.

“We’ve come to expect big things from Isaac,” Jensen said. “We know how good he can be and he’s a jack of all trades who finds a way to get it done.”

Clark had an impressive game as well, carrying the ball five times for 90 yards with a touchdown. Brayden Wood finished with 39 yards on the ground to go with his 59 passing yards while sophomore Carson O’Rourke ended the game with 22 yards. 

Leading the way for the Cobra defense was senior Ashton Schwab with six tackles. Junior John Berg finished with five while Jacob Libe and Brady Clark both had four. 

The Cobras next stop on the path towards District Title number five takes them to Colfax Mingo (1-5) this Friday. 

“We’re going to focus on getting healthy this week after taking some bumps on Friday,” Jensen said. “We need to focus on us while prepping for their schemes. We need to keep improving as we move closer to post season play.”

Last season Sigourney-Keota defeated Colfax-Mingo 82-0.