Iowa
Iowa high school football schedule Week 5: Every IHSAA game throughout the state
Hear from Southeast Polk football’s Cael Winget after beating Ankeny Centennial
Southeast Polk football’s Cael Winget breaks down his fourth quarter interception, which sealed the Rams’ win over top-ranked Ankeny Centennial.
It’s Week 5 of the Iowa high school football season, with another big week of games on the IHSAA on tap for Friday night.
This week features a big game between Class 5A No. 4 Waukee and No. 9 Johnston at Waukee. Des Moines Roosevelt travels to 5A No. 1 Dowling Catholic and No. 3 Ankeny Centennial goes on the road to face Des Moines East in other matchups between Des Moines-area schools.
Other big matchups happening around the state include 4A No. 9 Indianola traveling to Huxley to face Ballard, Carlisle hosting 4A No. 3 Pella and Iowa City West traveling to Ankeny to face the Hawks. Check out the full Week 5 IHSAA football schedule below.
Stream Iowa HS football games on the NFHS Network
Iowa high school football schedule, Week 5
All games are listed in alphabetical order with the home team first
Thursday, September 26
Davenport West vs Muscatine, 7 p.m.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy vs Iowa City High, 7 p.m.
Des Moines North vs North Polk, 7 p.m.
Friday, September 27
ADM vs Boone, 7 p.m.
AGWSR vs South Winneshiek, 7 p.m.
Akron-Westfield vs Gehlen, 7 p.m.
Alburnett vs Hudson, 7 p.m.
Alta-Aurelia vs South O’Brien, 7 p.m.
Ames vs Valley, 7 p.m.
Anamosa vs West Liberty, 7 p.m.
Ankeny vs Iowa City West, 7 p.m.
Aplington-Parkersburg vs Denver, 7 p.m.
Atlantic vs Knoxville, 7 p.m.
Audubon vs Coon Rapids-Bayard, 7 p.m.
BGM vs Montezuma, 7 p.m.
BHRV vs Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 7 p.m.
Ballard vs Indianola, 7 p.m.
Baxter vs Colo-Nesco, 7 p.m.
Bedford vs Mormon Trail, 7 p.m.
Bellevue vs Postville, 7 p.m.
Bishop Garrigan vs Rockford, 7 p.m.
Bishop Heelan vs Sioux Center, 7 p.m.
Bondurant-Farrar vs Newton, 7 p.m.
Boyer Valley vs Sidney, 7 p.m.
Burlington vs North Scott, 7:30 p.m.
CAM vs Exira-EHK, 7 p.m.
Calamus-Wheatland vs Central City, 7 p.m.
Carlisle vs Pella, 7:30 p.m.
Center Point-Urbana vs Wahlert, 7:30 p.m.
Central Lee vs Albia, 7:30 p.m.
Central Lyon vs Cherokee, 6 p.m.
Central Springs vs Dike-New Hartford, 7 p.m.
Chariton vs Centerville, 7 p.m.
Charles City vs Algona, 7 p.m.
Clarinda vs I-35, 7 p.m.
Clarion-Goldfield-Dows vs Estherville-Lincoln Central, 7 p.m.
Clarke vs Van Meter, 7 p.m.
Clarksville vs Turkey Valley, 7 p.m.
Clear Lake vs Webster City, 7 p.m.
Colfax-Mingo vs Cardinal, 7 p.m.
Collins-Maxwell vs Glidden-Ralston, 7 p.m.
Columbus vs Highland, 7 p.m.
Crestwood vs Waukon, 7:30 p.m.
D.M. East vs Centennial, 7 p.m.
Dallas Center-Grimes vs Jefferson, 7 p.m.
Danville vs Wapello, 7 p.m.
Davenport Central vs Davenport North, 7:15 p.m.
Denison-Schleswig vs Fort Dodge, 7 p.m.
Des Moines Christian vs Saydel, 7 p.m.
Don Bosco vs West Central, 7 p.m.
Dowling vs Roosevelt, 7:30 p.m.
Dunkerton vs Meskwaki Settlement, 7 p.m.
Eagle Grove vs Manson-Northwest Webster, 7 p.m.
Earlham vs Madrid, 7 p.m.
East Marshall vs South Hardin, 7 p.m.
Easton Valley vs WACO, 7 p.m.
Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont vs Pella Christian, 7 p.m.
Edgewood-Colesburg vs Lone Tree, 7 p.m.
Emmetsburg vs Sioux Central, 7 p.m.
English Valleys vs Winfield-Mt Union, 7 p.m.
Fairfield vs Benton, 7 p.m.
Forest City vs Garner-Hayfield-Ventura, 7 p.m.
Fort Madison vs Assumption, 7:30 p.m.
Fremont-Mills vs East Mills, 7 p.m.
Glenwood vs Lewis Central, 7 p.m.
Grand View Christian vs West Central Valley, 7 p.m.
Grundy Center vs Waterloo Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
Hampton-Dumont vs Humboldt, 7 p.m.
Harlan vs Creston, 7 p.m.
Harris-Lake Park vs West Bend-Mallard, 7 p.m.
Hempstead vs Bettendorf, 7:15 p.m.
Hinton vs Lawton-Bronson, 7 p.m.
Hoover vs Gilbert, 7:30 p.m.
Independence vs Central DeWitt, 7:30 p.m.
Iowa Falls-Alden vs Vinton-Shellsburg, 7:30 p.m.
Janesville vs Gladbrook-Reinbeck, 7 p.m.
Jefferson vs Washington, 7:15 p.m.
Kingsley-Pierson vs HMS, 6 p.m.
Kuemper vs Greene County, 7 p.m.
Lake Mills vs North Union, 7 p.m.
Lamoni vs Melcher-Dallas, 7 p.m.
Le Mars vs Spencer, 7 p.m.
Lenox vs East Union, 7 p.m.
Liberty vs Prairie, 7:15 p.m.
Lincoln vs Lincoln, 7 p.m.
Linn-Mar vs Cedar Falls, 7 p.m.
Lisbon vs Pekin, 7 p.m.
Lynnville-Sully vs Wayne, 7 p.m.
MMCRU vs Sibley-Ocheyedan, 7 p.m.
MOC-Floyd Valley vs Carroll, 7 p.m.
Maquoketa Valley vs Clayton Ridge, 7 p.m.
Maquoketa vs West Delaware, 7:30 p.m.
Marion vs Waterloo East, 7:15 p.m.
Marshalltown vs Ottumwa, 7:30 p.m.
Martensdale-St Marys vs Central Decatur, 7 p.m.
Mason City vs Decorah, 7:30 p.m.
Mediapolis vs West Burlington, 7:30 p.m.
Mid-Prairie vs Davis County, 7:30 p.m.
Mt Ayr vs North Mahaska, 7 p.m.
Mt Vernon vs Mt Pleasant, 7:15 p.m.
Nevada vs Perry, 7:30 p.m.
New Hampton vs Oelwein, 7 p.m.
New London vs HLV, 7 p.m.
Newman vs Belmond-Klemme, 7 p.m.
Nodaway Valley vs South Hamilton, 7 p.m.
North Butler vs BCLUW, 7 p.m.
North Fayette Valley vs Osage, 7:30 p.m.
North Iowa vs Northwood-Kensett, 7 p.m.
North Linn vs East Buchanan, 7:30 p.m.
North Tama vs Wapsie Valley, 7 p.m.
Northeast vs Monticello, 7:30 p.m.
OABCIG vs Ridge View, 7 p.m.
Ogden vs Woodward-Granger, 7 p.m.
Okoboji vs Spirit Lake, 7 p.m.
Oskaloosa vs Clear Creek-Amana, 7:30 p.m.
PCM vs Union, 7:30 p.m.
Panorama vs Southwest Valley, 7 p.m.
Pleasant Valley vs Dubuque, 7:15 p.m.
Pocahontas vs East Sac County, 7 p.m.
Red Oak vs Missouri Valley, 7 p.m.
Regina vs Cascade, 7 p.m.
Riceville vs Kee, 7 p.m.
Riverside vs AC/GC, 7 p.m.
Roland-Story vs Southeast Valley, 7 p.m.
S.C North vs Urbandale, 7 p.m.
Sheldon vs Unity Christian, 7 p.m.
Shenandoah vs Underwood, 7 p.m.
Sigourney-Keota vs Pleasantville, 7 p.m.
Solon vs Grinnell, 7:30 p.m.
South Central Calhoun vs IKM-Manning, 7 p.m.
South Tama County vs Williamsburg, 7:30 p.m.
Southeast Polk vs S.C. East, 7 p.m.
Southeast Warren vs Murray, 7 p.m.
Springville vs Midland, 7 p.m.
St Ansgar vs Nashua-Plainfield, 7 p.m.
St Edmond vs GTRA, 7 p.m.
St Mary’s vs Newell-Fonda, 7 p.m.
Stanton-Essex vs Griswold, 7 p.m.
Starmont vs North Cedar, 7 p.m.
Storm Lake vs S.C. West, 7 p.m.
Sumner-Fredericksburg vs MFL MarMac, 7 p.m.
Tipton vs Camanche, 7 p.m.
Treynor vs AHSTW, 7 p.m.
Tri-Center vs Logan-Magnolia, 7 p.m.
Tri-County vs Iowa Valley, 7 p.m.
Tripoli vs GMG, 7 p.m.
Twin Cedars vs Moravia, 7 p.m.
Van Buren County vs Louisa-Muscatine, 7 p.m.
Washington vs Keokuk, 7:30 p.m.
Waterloo Christian vs Central Elkader, 7 p.m.
Waterloo West vs Waukee Northwest, 7:30 p.m.
Waukee vs Johnston, 7 p.m.
Waverly-Shell Rock vs Western Dubuque, 7:30 p.m.
West Branch vs Beckman, 7 p.m.
West Hancock vs West Fork, 7 p.m.
West Harrison vs Siouxland Christian, 7 p.m.
West Harrison/Whiting Co-op vs Siouxland Christian, 6 p.m.
West Lyon vs Western Christian, 7 p.m.
West Marshall vs Jesup, 7:30 p.m.
West Monona vs Westwood, 7 p.m.
West Sioux vs MVAOCOU, 7 p.m.
Wilton vs Durant, 7 p.m.
Winterset vs Norwalk, 7 p.m.
Woodbine vs Ar-We-Va, 7 p.m.
Woodbury Central vs St Albert, 7 p.m.
Xavier vs Clinton, 7:30 p.m.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
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In five of six legislative special elections last year, Democrats overperformed by more than 20 percentage points compared with the 2024 presidential election.
Here are the top 2026 midterm races to follow in Iowa
Des Moines Register Chief Politics Reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel breaks down Iowa’s top races ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Iowa Democrats ended 2025 on a high note, winning a Dec. 30 special election in Des Moines’ western suburbs by a wider margin than during the presidential election.
That capped off a year in which Democrats won four of the six legislative special elections and ended Republicans’ supermajority in the Iowa Senate.
In five of those six special elections, Democrats overperformed by more than 20 percentage points compared with 2024.
They’ll look to build off the momentum going into the pivotal 2026 midterms that will include open races for governor and U.S. senator as well as regular Iowa congressional and Legislature elections.
Whether 2025’s Democratic Party victories are bellwethers or blips will play out this year.
Democrats saw Iowa special elections consistently tilt left
Though Republicans won in two special elections in 2025s, their margins of victory were significantly smaller than 2024.
Republican Wendy Larson won December’s special election for the vacant seat in House District 7 by 40 points. That’s a wide margin, but wide margins are expected for Republicans in that part of the state: The party holds strong advantages in voter registration totals in Calhoun, Pocahontas, Sac and Webster counties, where the district is located.
And even that 40-point margin represented a shift toward the Democrats.
In the 2024 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris by 50 points in House District 7. Democrats didn’t even field a candidate for the district’s legislative seat that year.
The 10-point shift toward Democrats from the 2024 presidential election to the 2025 special election in House District 7 was the smallest of any legislative district that held a special election last year.
Each of the five other districts shifted toward Democrats by more than twice as much.
Moreover, those special elections were spread across the state.
Democrats consistently gathered a greater share of votes from Senate District 1 in the northwest part of the state to House District 100 in the state’s southeast corner, ranging from 10 to 26 percentage points.
The two seats Democrats flipped in special elections — Senate Districts 1 and 35 — each shifted to the left by more than 20 points compared with the 2024 presidential election.
In Senate District 1, Trump outpaced Harris by 11 percentage points in 2024, while Democrat Caitlin Drey won the seat there by more than 10 points in August.
In Senate District 35, Trump’s victory margin in Senate District 35 was more than 21 points. In January 2025, Democrat Mike Zimmer won the district’s Senate seat by 3½ points.
In 2022, Republicans won both those seats by even wider margins than Trump in 2024.
Should Democrats expect momentum to carry over to 2026?
Pushing voters to the left in six isolated special elections is one thing. Parlaying those successes into November’s midterm elections is quite another.
Turnout was key in 2025’s special elections, and it will be again in 2026.
The numbers of votes cast in 2025’s special elections equaled roughly one-quarter to one-third the votes cast in the 2024 presidential election in those districts.
Turnout should be higher in November’s midterms.
Since 2000, the percentage of Iowa’s registered voters who have participated in the midterm elections typically has hovered around 55%. (About 75% of registered Iowans usually vote in presidential elections.)
But what determines an election is less about the number of people who show up and more about who those people are.
An increased share of those who went to the polls in the special elections were Democratic voters — or, perhaps more accurately, a greater number of Republican voters stayed home.
Republicans will be working to get those voters back to the polls this November.
Republicans maintain advantage in Iowa voter registration data
The leftward shift in last year’s special elections has yet to materialize in Iowa’s voter registration numbers.
Over roughly the past 15 years, voter registrations in Iowa have swung heavily toward Republicans.
Democrats, conversely, have lost 200,000 voters in that time, and Republicans have opened up an overall advantage of more than 10 percentage points.
Despite their victories at the ballot box in 2025, Democrats have not chipped into Republicans’ significant lead in voter registrations.
Last year was the first since at least 2000 when the share of active voters who were Republicans was at least 10 percentage points higher than the share who were Democrats throughout the entire year.
Republicans began 2026 with nearly 200,000 more active registered voters than Democrats, among their largest leads this century.
Those two parties do not comprise the entirety of Iowa’s electorate — a large share of Iowa’s active voters are not registered to a party, and a smaller amount are registered to other parties, including Libertarians.
And just because a voter is registered as a Democrat or Republican doesn’t mean they’ll vote for their party’s candidates.
But the large voter deficit indicates Democrats are starting from a less favorable position.
Their special election victories in 2025 proved they can win elections, but they’ll need to make up some ground to replicate that success in 2026.
Tim Webber is a data visualization specialist for the Register. Reach him at twebber@registermedia.com and on Twitter at @HelloTimWebber.
Video: Kirk Ferentz reacts to Iowa’s ReliaQuest Bowl win over Vanderbilt
Kirk Ferentz meets with media after Iowa football’s 34-27 win over Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
IOWA CITY — Furman transfer receiver Evan James has committed to Iowa football, he announced Jan. 11.
James, who is listed at 6-feet and 175 pounds, will come to the Hawkeyes with three seasons of eligibility remaining.
James, a 3-star prospect in the 2025 high school recruiting class, had a standout true freshman season at Furman. In nine appearances, James accumulated 65 receptions for 796 yards and seven touchdowns. He also rushed seven times for 72 yards and one touchdown.
James was named an FCS 1st team Freshman All-American by Phil Steele.
James hauled in at least five catches in each of his nine appearances last season and went over 100 yards three times. James had a career-high 10 receptions against Campbell. He had a career-high 146 yards receiving against Chattanooga, which included a 61-yard catch.
James is the second FCS first-team Freshman All-American receiver that Iowa football has landed this transfer portal cycle.
The Hawkeyes also got a commitment from UT Rio Grande Valley receiver Tony Diaz. The addition of Diaz, who held offers from Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia Tech and others, was a major recruiting win for the Hawkeyes. Diaz hauled in 68 receptions for 875 yards and 11 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman last season.
The Hawkeyes are seeing the departure of some serious contributions from their 2025 receiver room. Three of the team’s top five leaders in receiving yards during the 2025 season are moving on: Jacob Gill, Sam Phillips and Kaden Wetjen. Not to mention Seth Anderson, who was tied for second on the team lead in receiving touchdowns last season with two.
On top of that, there’s a level of uncertainty regarding what Iowa’s quarterback play is going to look like in the post-Mark Gronowski era.
But there are some pieces to inspire some hope.
The Hawkeyes have done commendable work in the transfer portal to bolster the receiver room, getting a pair of productive players at a position of need. What makes it even sweeter is that they each have three seasons of eligibility remaining, giving them time to grow and develop in the program.
Reece Vander Zee is the most prominent name that can return to the wide receiver room in 2026. Dayton Howard and KJ Parker were rotational guys in 2025 and could take a step forward next season.
The tight end room appears loaded — with the return of Addison Ostrenga, Iowa’s 2025 leading receiver DJ Vonnahme and Thomas Meyer — but the Hawkeyes still need reinforcements on the outside to get the passing game where it needs to be.
The Hawkeyes will look to sustain momentum on the offensive side of the ball in coordinator Tim Lester’s third season with the program.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
Looking for a second road win this week, No. 14 Iowa women’s basketball heads to Indiana for today’s 4 p.m. contest inside Assembly Hall. BTN will televise the game.
The Hawkeyes (13-2, 4-0 Big Ten Conference) remained perfect in league play with a 67-58 win at Northwestern on Jan. 5, a game in which Iowa survived despite enduring heavy foul trouble.
Meanwhile, Indiana (11-6, 0-5) has reached desperation territory. The Hoosiers have dropped four straight, including two at home, during this extended skid.
Here’s how to watch today’s game.
Watch Iowa vs. Indiana on Fubo (free trial)
What channel is Iowa women’s basketball vs. Indiana on today?
Iowa vs. Indiana time today
- Date: Sunday, Jan. 11
- Start time: 4 p.m. CT
- Location: Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana
Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.
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