The Little Hawks face their crosstown rivals, the West High Trojans, in a battle for The Boot, one of the biggest trophy games in the state. These teams have been rivals for decades, and the rivalry grows every year with adversity between both football teams.

The Trojans started off the season with a loss to Liberty in a high-scoring game but bounced back, beating Urbandale 34-28 and Muscatine 56-20. Although the Little Hawks started off the season with 2 losses, they bounced back against Ames in a much-needed victory, winning 53-14.

The Little Hawks really showed what they can do all over the field. Quarterback Bobby Bacon ‘25 went 13/20 and threw for 226 yards and had 2 touchdowns passing. Not only did the passing game do well, but the Little Hawks racked up a total of 269 rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns against Ames High. Dom Salibi ‘25 led the offense, having 67 yards rushing, 14 yards receiving, 26 yards passing, and 1 touchdown rushing.

Connor Cross ’25 was also a key contributor by having 5 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown on offense and had 4 tackles on defense. The senior played almost every snap in the win, even with a broken left hand. Freshman Marshall Sheldon, who is currently top 5 in the state in tackles with 24.5 tackles, leads the team in total tackles for the third straight week in a row for the Little Hawks with 6.5 tackles.

A player who made a big impact in the game against Ames in his first career start was Chris Davis ‘26. The newly arrived starting safety had himself a night with 2 interceptions in the red zone and 3 tackles, making a huge statement for the Little Hawks defense and giving the defense a lot of confidence coming into the game against the Trojans.

Impact players to look out for for the Trojans are wide receivers Mason Woods ‘25 and Juju Manson ‘26, with their quarterback, who leads the state in passing yards, Jack Wallace ‘25.

Game time is set at 7:00 pm at West High with a student section theme of Beach Out.