Johnston Dragons Football Faces Grueling Final Stretch

Heading into the final two games of the regular football season, the Johnston Dragons face formidable competition.

Tonight the team takes on the Ankeny Hawks at 7:30 p.m. at home. The Hawks have lost only once this season.

Keep up to date with our CoverIt Live blog, which will feature high school scores from across the state starting at 7:30 p.m.

After a 2-0 start, which included wins against Ottumwa and Council Bluffs Lincoln, the Dragons evened up their record at 2-2 with back-to-back losses to Marshalltown and neighboring .

A homecoming win against Indianola evened up Johnston's conference record at 1-1. And after a 49-7 win against Sioux City West on Sept. 30, the Dragons found themselves at 4-2.

Johnston put up a good fight, but was overpowered Oct. 7 by Dowling Catholic, last year's Class 4A state champions.

The Dragons' final two foes are two top 10 teams in and Southeast Polk.

Although the Iowa Conference features such stiff competition, head coach Brian Woodley, in his 10^th season with Johnston, says it’s a good thing for his team.

“When I took this job 10 years ago, I knew this was one of the best conferences, if not the best conference, to play in every Friday night,” Woodley said. “It’s fun though, that’s what you want to do is play the best. We’re definitely not intimidated. I think our kids look forward to those tough conference games.”

Senior fullback Connor Yoccum says the tough regular season competition can only help the team prepare to play for the state title next month at the UNI-Dome.

“I would say we’re fortunate to be in what I would consider to be the strongest conference in the state of Iowa,” Yoccum said. “It makes us better and it makes us work harder and gets us closer to our goal of playing at the Dome.”

Last season the Dragons finished the regular season at 5-4 and were eliminated in the first round of the postseason by Southeast Polk.

Check back early Saturday for photos from the big game.