A defending state champion couldn’t finish the season. A Des Moines school with 660 students walked away from a 58-year tradition. Seven Iowa high school football programs either canceled or paused their 2025 varsity seasons, exposing a participation crisis that’s hitting small and large schools alike.
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State Champions Go From Undefeated to Unable to Field a Team
Remsen St. Mary’s won the 8-player state championship in November 2024. The Hawks finished 13-0, capping a run that saw them lose just six games from 2018 through 2024.
Ten months later, they couldn’t finish a game.
The Hawks suited up 13 healthy players for their Week 2 matchup against St. Edmond on September 12. Three more went down with injuries in the first half. Head coach Tim Osterman watched his team trail 36-0 with only eight players able to continue and called the game.
“The numbers on our team are down to 11 bodies and four or five of those are freshmen,” Osterman told local reporters after forfeiting the following week’s game against Kingsley-Pierson. “At the end of the day, it was a matter of making sure we do right by our kids.”
The problem started with graduation. Remsen St. Mary’s lost 10 seniors from a 21-player roster. The 2025 squad featured one senior, two juniors, and a group of freshmen and sophomores trying to defend a state title.
The school enrolls just 32 students in grades 9-11 total.
Through three losses before suspending play, opponents outscored the Hawks 154-33.
Des Moines School Cancels Before Season Starts
Des Moines Hoover announced on February 27 it would not field a football team for fall 2025. The decision ended football at the school for the first time since it opened in 1967.
With 660 students, Hoover ranked as the 51st largest high school in Iowa. The roster listed 45 players in 2024.
None of it mattered. The team went 1-26 over three seasons. Their last win came on September 9, 2022, when they beat Sioux City West 35-33.
Principal Qynne Kelly sent a letter to families explaining cost, safety, and participation all factored into the choice. Head coach Theo Evans had already left to take an assistant position at Dallas Center-Grimes.
Kelly pointed to where students were going instead. Boys volleyball numbers were up. Girls wrestling added participants. Soccer rosters grew. The theater program and band were thriving, with over 60 students expected in band for 2026.
“We’re seeing numbers go to other activities and sports,” Kelly said in an interview with KCCI. Students who wanted to keep playing football could join the Des Moines Roosevelt program.
One Game Was Enough for Siouxland Christian
Siouxland Christian School traveled to Coon Rapids-Bayard for their season opener on August 29. By halftime, the Eagles trailed 60-0. They managed eight yards passing and negative 28 yards rushing before forfeiting at the break.
Superintendent Nic Scandrett canceled the rest of the season two days later.
“This decision follows the first game of the season, which was halted at halftime due to player safety concerns,” Scandrett said in a statement. “The health and well-being of our student-athletes remain our highest priority.”
The Eagles went 1-8 in both 2023 and 2024, getting outscored 478-160 in the most recent season. Since starting 8-player football in 2021, the program compiled a 5-31 record with its best year coming in 2022 at 3-5.
Mid-Season Exits Continue
New London made it to late September before pulling out. The school announced on September 25 it was canceling the rest of the season because of low numbers. Homecoming went on as scheduled the following week, just without a football game.
Highland paused its season after getting outscored 53-7 in two games. Head coach Cory Quail resigned before the announcement.
Mormon Trail also stopped play temporarily with plans to potentially resume later in the fall.
Three More Cancel Before Kickoff
Lone Tree never made it to Week 1. Fewer than 10 players showed up for the first practice despite the Lions finishing 2-6 the previous season.
Rockford and Dunkerton also canceled their programs before the season started, both citing insufficient participation.
The Iowa High School Athletic Association confirmed all seven cancellations. Six of the seven schools competed in 8-player football, which serves smaller schools already operating with thin rosters. When injuries mount or students choose other activities, these programs have no backup options.
What Happens Next
The 2025 season revealed how quickly programs can collapse. A state championship team couldn’t make it through September. A school with 660 students and 45 rostered players the year before couldn’t convince enough of them to keep playing.
The IHSAA released its 2025 and 2026 schedules back in March, before any schools announced cancellations. Districts scrambled to fill holes in their schedules as teams dropped out mid-season.
For the students at these seven schools, the choice came down to transferring eligibility to nearby programs or accepting their high school football careers were over. Hoover players could join Roosevelt. Remsen St. Mary’s athletes had to look elsewhere or wait to see if the program returns in 2026.
Whether any of these programs come back depends on factors beyond wins and losses. Schools need enough interested students, sufficient funding, coaches willing to take the job, and parents comfortable with the safety profile of the sport. Right now, seven Iowa programs couldn’t check all those boxes.
