The Johnston Brief
One high school, one of the deepest trophy cases in the metro. Here is how to follow the Johnston Dragons: who they are, the state titles on the wall, the sports calendar season by season, and exactly where to find scores, schedules and tickets all year.
Johnston High School are the Dragons, a single large 5A school in the CIML (Central Iowa Metro League). The trophy case runs deep: 7 state baseball titles, back-to-back Class 4A boys' soccer titles (2023 and 2024), recent 5A girls' basketball championships, and a first boys' track state title in 2023. Official schedules and scores live at Johnston Dragons Athletics; we run a weekly scoreboard below.
Unlike some of its neighbors, Johnston runs everything through a single large high school, which is part of why the Dragons compete at the top: Class 5A, the largest classification in Iowa, in the CIML (Central Iowa Metro League), one of the state's deepest conferences. That means a Friday-night or a summer-evening slate stacked with the biggest programs in the Des Moines metro.
Johnston has become one of central Iowa's most successful athletic programs. The verified state titles on the wall include:
Johnston also fields strong programs across the rest of its sports and activities; for the full, current list, see Johnston Dragons Athletics.
Live, day-to-day scores and standings: Johnston Dragons Athletics.
Tickets for most Iowa high school events are digital and linked from the athletics site. Conference and playoff games can sell out, so buy ahead, arrive early, and check the current clear-bag policy first.
The Johnston Brief runs a weekly Dragons scoreboard plus everything else happening in town, in one short email.
Johnston High School are the Dragons, a single large public high school that plays Class 5A in the CIML (Central Iowa Metro League).
A deep trophy case: 7 state baseball titles, back-to-back Class 4A boys' soccer state championships in 2023 and 2024, recent 5A girls' basketball titles including an undefeated 2024 season, and a first boys' track state title in 2023.
Johnston Dragons Athletics for official schedules and tickets, and Bound (gobound.com) or MaxPreps for results and brackets. We also carry a weekly scoreboard.
Iowa is unusual: it runs high school baseball and softball as a summer sport, wrapping up with state tournaments in July, while most states play in spring.