For much of the first half, it appeared whichever team had the ball last would come out on top.

Both Pella and Oskaloosa scored virtually at will as they combined for 509 yards and seven touchdowns in the first 24 minutes of their non-district game.

The defenses showed up the second half, but the Little Dutch held on for a wild 35-30 victory at Community Stadium.

Little Dutch junior quarterback Blaine Forsythe sparked the win by throwing for 238 yards on 13-for-26 passing and four touchdowns — two each to Steven Overbergen and Richie Bales.

The Indians (0-2 on the season), stayed with Pella, which improves to 2-0 on the year.

Oskaloosa opened the game by driving the ball 45 yards in eight plays as senior Andrew Reed booted a 29-yard field goal with 9:37 left for the game’s opening points.

The Little Dutch moved the ball down to the Indian 5 before a delay of game penalty stalled the drive. They turned the ball on downs as Forsythe disconnected with Overbergen on fourth down and the Indians took over.

The Little Dutch got the ball back after forcing Oskaloosa to punt and they wasted little time in taking over the lead late in the first quarter.

After Marcus Haustein, who ran for 165 yards on 28 carries, had a 1-yard gain, Forsythe threw 4 yards to Haustein then Forsythe hooked up with Bales for a 49-yard scoring strike at the 2:57 mark to put Pella ahead at 7-3.

Then the fireworks really got going.

The teams combined for 41 points and six touchdowns to keep the fans on the edge of their seats.

“They got us in their passing and we got them in rushing a little bit,” Oskaloosa coach Darrell Schumacher said. “Both teams made adjustments in the second half.”

The teams traded punts as the first quarter ended and Oskaloosa got the ball at Pella’s 34 to begin the second quarter. Oskaloosa junior quarterback Jon Eveland began the 5-play drive with a 9-yard run and Tye Sparks had 17 yards on a couple of carries to put the ball at the Pella 10. Eveland found Reed in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdowns to put the Indians back in front at 10-7 with 10:17 remaining in the half.

Hardly two minutes later, the Little Dutch answered right back with Forsythe finding Overbergen, who had six receptions for 121 yards, behind the Oskaloosa secondary and raced 52 yards for the score and a 14-10 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Austin Blanchard fumbled the ball and Josh Pringle pounced on the loose ball at the Oskaloosa 35.