Pella beats Webster City for 3rd state title

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Nick Finney passed for two touchdowns and ran for another and Pella beat Webster City 28-18 on Thursday night to win its third consecutive Class 3A state championship.

Donovan Holterhaus caught both scoring passes and finished with a championship-game record 10 receptions for 181 yards.

Pella (13-0) notched its 41st consecutive victory and became the fourth 3A team to win three straight titles.

Robert Frederiksen rushed for 182 yards and a touchdown out of Webster City's old-school single-wing offense. But the Lynx (11-2) couldn't quite match Pella's versatility — or keep the ball away from Holterhaus.

Finney finished 15 of 22 for 263 yards and one interception. He added 66 yards rushing on 22 carries, including a 3-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 21-10 lead.

Just before that touchdown, Pella went for it on fourth-and-23 from the Webster City 29 and Finney hit Julian Viersen for 26 yards.

Webster City responded with its biggest play of the night -- a 64-yard kickoff return by Zane Williams to the Pella 34. Five plays later, 5-foot-5 Payton Kannuan shook off two tacklers on a nifty 24-yard touchdown run and Frederiksen ran for a 2-point conversion, drawing the Lynx to 21-18 with 9:14 left.

But Finney was far from finished. He led a snappy 78-yard scoring drive that ended with his 29-yard toss to Holterhaus for the game-clinching touchdown.

Finney also hooked up with Holterhaus on an 18-yard TD pass that gave the Dutch a 14-3 halftime lead. His only mistake of the night, a screen pass that he threw right to Webster City's Cole Briese, set up Frederiksen's 17-yard touchdown run, which cut the lead to 14-10.

Pella matched a championship feat accomplished twice by Harlan (1982-84 and 2003-05) and once by Decorah (1987-89).

The Little Dutch have won 52 of their last 53 games.