The Iowa Yellow Jackets are Southwest Louisiana’s new state football champions, and the win took place inside the Caesars Superdome on December 12, 2025. Iowa beat North DeSoto 50-43 in the LHSAA Division II Non-Select Championship, taking the program’s first state title with an undefeated 14-0 record. KPLC’s 7-In-Seven countdown of the top SWLA high school sports moments named the victory one of the year’s defining local stories.
The numbers were loud. The community that made them possible was louder. Head coach Tommy Johns framed the title as a win for the Iowa community and for those the program lost in the weeks leading up to the title game, a theme that carried through a jambalaya-plate-funded ring ceremony months later.
The Game That Decided a First State Title
Iowa and North DeSoto arrived at the LHSAA Prep Classic with matching 13-0 records, both hunting their first state title. The Caesars Superdome in New Orleans hosted the Division II Non-Select final at noon on December 12, 2025.
The game stayed close from the opening kick, and the scoreboard never separated the two teams by more than a single score. Iowa’s offense kept answering, putting the Yellow Jackets on top 50-43 at the final whistle. The result pushed Iowa to 14-0 and dropped North DeSoto to 13-1, ending the Griffins’ second-ever state title game appearance. The 2025 Prep Classic ran December 11 to 13 at the Superdome, the traditional closing weekend of Louisiana’s high school football calendar, as reported in coverage of the the 50-43 win in the LHSAA Division II Non-Select title game.
Iowa’s 50-43 win is the program’s first state championship in school history, a milestone that played out under the same roof where LSU and the New Orleans Saints play their biggest games. It was a result that fit a season with no losses, one quarterfinal at a time, and a roster built to finish what earlier Iowa teams had started. The piece KPLC ran on June 22, 2026, framing the win as a top moment, came six months after the final whistle.
How Iowa Ripped Off 600 Yards Inside the Superdome
Iowa’s offense was built around a senior class, and the title game was their last chance to put a number on the regular season. Jeremiah Bushnell played his final game in purple and gold at receiver and caught four passes for 112 yards and three touchdowns. Kaston Lewis, a two-way standout, led the rushing attack with 172 yards and two trips to the end zone. J’Vien Adams, the school’s all-time leading rusher, added 160 yards on the ground and a score of his own. Together, the trio powered an offense that piled up nearly 600 yards of total offense and more than 400 yards rushing on the Superdome turf.
North DeSoto came in as a near mirror image of Iowa, an undefeated team with its own star skill players, and the scoreboard reflected that. Both offenses moved the ball, and neither defense could slow the other for long. The Yellow Jackets’ depth at the skill positions, and one more rushing yard when it mattered, was the difference in a 50-43 final.
- 50-43: Iowa’s final score over North DeSoto in the LHSAA Division II Non-Select Championship
- ~600 yards: Iowa’s total offense in the title game
- 400+ yards: Iowa’s rushing total in the title game
- Jeremiah Bushnell: 4 catches, 112 yards, 3 TDs in his final game
- Kaston Lewis: 172 rushing yards, 2 TDs
- J’Vien Adams: 160 rushing yards, 1 TD; Iowa’s all-time leading rusher
The Opponent That Was Never Going to Fold
North DeSoto’s 2025 roster was built to win a state title, and the Griffins entered the Division II Non-Select final at 13-0. Quarterback Luke Delafield had thrown for 2,192 yards and 29 touchdowns on the season and was bound for Northwestern State. Running back Kenny Thomas had piled up 1,551 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns, and was bound for Louisiana Tech. The two formed the kind of two-headed monster that carries teams through December, and they gave Iowa its tightest game of the year.
North DeSoto’s head coach, Dennis Dunn, had won nine state titles at Evangel Christian Academy and a national title with the Eagles in 1999, a track record that made the Griffins the favorite in many eyes. The 2025 final was North DeSoto’s second-ever state title game, with the previous one coming in 2022. Iowa was the only undefeated team standing in the way.
The Griffins kept coming in the Superdome, trading score for score with the Yellow Jackets until the final gun. A 13-0 season ended at 13-1, and Iowa’s program got the trophy North DeSoto had spent a year building toward. The loss was the first for North DeSoto since the previous fall and the only blemish on a roster that produced two future college starters.
A Win That Belonged to the Whole Town
Tommy Johns, Iowa’s head coach, did not talk about the game the way most coaches do after a state title win. The stats told the story, he said, but the win was for the Iowa community and for those the program lost in the weeks leading up to the title game. Johns pointed to packed home crowds and the kind of support that shows up whenever the program needs a hand.
The Yellow Jackets’ run to the Superdome had been a town project, with fundraisers, jambalaya sales, and standing-room-only crowds at every home game. The roster that took the field in December carried the names of people who could not be there. Tommy Johns called the championship a victory that belonged to a community that had been waiting for a moment like this for a long time.
Iowa’s roster was stacked with seniors playing their last high school game, including Bushnell, Adams, and offensive lineman Haidin Hamilton. The ring ceremony six months later would give the program a chance to mark the win in a way that lasted. The Superdome title was the headline, but the program made clear the headline was bigger than the box score.
I mean, you saw, I mean, the people over there, they’ve been waiting for something like this for so long. They deserve it, they do. I mean they’ve been so supportive of us, and when you come to one of our home games it’s standing room only. Anytime we need something, there’s a fundraiser where they show up and they show out.
Rings, a Jambalaya Sale, and a Banquet in May
The Iowa football team received its state championship rings on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, during the program’s 2025 football championship banquet, as detailed in the KPLC report on Iowa’s state championship ring ceremony. Players and staff picked up the rings in a room full of teammates, parents, and the same community that had packed the Superdome six months earlier. The rings marked an undefeated 14-0 season and the program’s first state title in school history. In-Laws Restaurant sold jambalaya plates to help cover the cost of the rings, a jambalaya plate sale the program said the town drove end to end.
Players described the moment in plain words. Senior running back J’Vien Adams, Iowa’s all-time leading rusher, said it felt good to receive a ring the team had worked so hard for. Senior offensive lineman Haidin Hamilton said waiting for the rings felt like forever, and that opening the box was amazing. Tommy Johns called the community unbelievable and said it stepped up when the program needed to fund the rings, a quote the banquet room could finish for him.
- Dec. 12, 2025: Iowa wins the LHSAA Division II Non-Select title, 50-43 over North DeSoto, in the Caesars Superdome
- May 13, 2026: Players and staff receive championship rings at the team’s banquet, with a jambalaya plate sale at In-Laws Restaurant helping to fund the cost
- June 22, 2026: KPLC airs its 7-In-Seven countdown, naming the Iowa title one of the top SWLA high school sports moments
Why KPLC’s 7-In-Seven Crowned This the Top Moment
The 7-In-Seven is a KPLC series that has counted down the top Southwest Louisiana high school sports stories every summer since at least 2023, and the 2025-26 edition put the Iowa title near the top of the list. KPLC’s sports team has used the same format for SWLA football rivalries, prep football team rankings, and a broader 2023-24 sports moments countdown.
The Iowa title checked every box the series usually honors: a community behind the program, a coach with a long run, a senior class delivering on a multi-year build, and a final that came down to one score. KPLC’s framing of the win as a top moment drew directly on the community angle Johns and the players had emphasized since December, as laid out in the 7-In-Seven segment that named the Iowa title a top SWLA moment. The piece that ran on June 22, 2026, was the station’s way of closing the loop on a season that started with a 13-0 run and ended with a ring on every finger.
Iowa’s 14-0 record and 50-43 win are now part of a longer KPLC count of SWLA championship moments, one that goes back at least to the 2023-24 school year. The 7-In-Seven tag is the station’s way of telling viewers the season was bigger than one game, and the Iowa title earned the spot.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the final score of the Iowa Yellow Jackets state championship game?
Iowa won 50-43 over North DeSoto in the LHSAA Division II Non-Select title game on December 12, 2025, a result that closed a 14-0 season. The win was the program’s first state title in school history, decided by a single score inside the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
When did Iowa High School win its first state football title?
Iowa High School’s first state football title came on December 12, 2025, with a 50-43 win over North DeSoto in the LHSAA Division II Non-Select Championship. The game was played in the Caesars Superdome, the traditional home of the LHSAA Prep Classic, and the title marked the program’s first championship in school history.
Who coached the Iowa Yellow Jackets to the 2025 state title?
Tommy Johns is the head coach of Iowa High School football, and he led the program to its first state title in 2025. Johns told KPLC the title was a win for the Iowa community and for people the program lost in the weeks leading up to the title game, a theme he repeated at the ring ceremony in May 2026.
What was Iowa’s record in the 2025 LHSAA championship season?
Iowa went 14-0 in the 2025 LHSAA season and beat North DeSoto, the only other undefeated team in the Division II Non-Select bracket, 50-43 in the title game. The season closed with the program’s first state title and a ring ceremony at the team’s banquet on May 13, 2026.
When did Iowa’s football team receive its state championship rings?
Iowa’s championship rings were handed out on May 13, 2026, at the team’s 2025 football championship banquet. The rings were paid for in part by a jambalaya plate sale at In-Laws Restaurant, with the program saying the community stepped up to cover the cost for each player.
