Johnston’s football, volleyball, and boys cross country teams all have great things to look back on from the past season, but none of these teams are satisfied with how their season came to an end.
Johnston played Ankeny in the first round of the 5A football playoffs on Friday, and fell to the Hawks 21-9. The Dragons lost the turnover battle to Ankeny which was the main key to the game, especially with the poor weather. The Johnston defense played very well for the majority of the game, but fatigue showed late in the game. Ankeny dominated time of possession, mostly due to Johnston’s lack of ability to move the ball on offense. The Dragons were riding a three game win streak going into the playoffs, and had their confidence high for another deep run.
Johnston’s volleyball team fell to Pleasant Valley in the quarterfinals of the 5A volleyball playoffs three sets to one. The Dragons won the first set of the game and led for most of the second set, before losing their lead and allowing PV to tie the game at one set a piece. This seemed to give PV confidence going into the third set, as the Spartans jumped to a 17-4 lead. Johnston pulled off a great comeback by cutting the lead to two before eventually falling in the third set 25-21. The fourth set had the exact same script, with PV jumping out to a huge lead. One again, the Dragons executed a great comeback and put themselves in a position to force a fifth set. Johnston once again got Pleasant Valley’s lead down to two multiple times in the set but once again eventually lost the set, this time with a score of 25-20. Johnston had an incredible record on the season, and that is something to be proud of, but the Dragons had high hopes going into the state tournament.
The Johnston Boys Cross Country team had a very similar looking season to last year. The Dragons dominated their first two meets of the season and looked very impressive going into the very big Marshalltown invite. Just like last season, the Dragons struggled at Marshalltown, placing way lower than expected. Johnston intentionally loads their schedule with very challenging and high competition meets during the regular season, including the well known Roy Griak Invitational. The Dragons placed 11th at Griak, very similar to last season, and confidence was still high going into postseason meets. Johnston’s team this year had incredible depth, but a lack of a leader up front is what eventually killed the Dragon’s season. The Dragons placed a very disappointing ninth at the state meet this season. The state for boys cross country is improving a ton and is improving very quickly. This season may very easily have been the best season of Iowa High School Boys Cross Country ever, and the state shows no signs of slowing down.
?All of Johnston’s fall sports teams had great seasons, but a lot of the teams are going home disappointed due to performing well below their goals in the postseason.