One of state’s larger schools will no longer play high school football

Des Moines Hoover announced they will not field a football team this coming fall

Des Moines Hoover will not field a football team for the upcoming 2025 season. / Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

Des Moines Hoover, the 51st-largest high school in the state of Iowa, will not field a football team for the upcoming 2025 season.

According to a report by KCCI, low numbers of students participating in football is the main reason for the decision. Those Des Moines Hoover students wishing to play football will be able to compete for the Des Moines Roosevelt program.

Breaking: Hoover High in Des Moines will no longer have football due to low numbers. Hoover students that wish to play will play for Roosevelt. AD Charles Zanders tells me families were recently notified. @KCCINews

— Scott Reister (@scottreister) February 27, 2025

Iowa uses BEDS numbers to determine where schools will compete in terms of class size. The 2023-24 enrollment numbers, which were used for the current 2024-25 season, saw Hoover at No. 51 with 660 students. 

In a letter sent to families, Hoover principal Qynne Kelly said, “I can assure you that this decision was not taken lightly. However, due to a variety of concerns and barriers, including safety and interest, this decision was collaboratively made.”

For football, that placed them in Class 4A, where the Huskies went 0-9, losing by an average of 45-9. Hoover also went 0-9 in 2023 and has just 12 wins since going 6-4 in 2015.

Junior quarterback Samuel Zay Zay threw for over 550 yards while junior running back Diyon Berry ran for 376 with four touchdowns last year to lead the Huskies. Freshmen Niyo Francois and Paulo Asani were among the leading tacklers on defense. 

Head coach Theo Evans will join the Dallas Center-Grimes coaching staff as an assistant.