By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
Thanks to research by Quinn Douglass, a local radio broadcaster for KQWC Radio and friend of mine, I now have access to historical football records for all of the teams within the West Central Activities Conference. Check it out HERE. Not only are the records for all of these programs here (dating back to 1992), but there is statistical data for nearly every single Iowa high school.
Let’s start with the ones you are likely the most interested in: Panorama and ACGC. Panorama’s all-time record since 1992 is 162-153. Their best season came in 2011 with a 10-1 record, district championship and playoff qualifier. As this column goes out, I’ll be interviewing Jim Demers, the new head football coach for the Panthers who will look to steer the ship back in the right direction after back-to-back 1-7 seasons.
ACGC, as most of you know, only became a school in 2016. The football program went winless in its inaugural season. Since then, the tide has very much turned for the Chargers. As of now, ACGC’s all-time record is 60-39 with three straight 10-1 seasons. Those campaigns were led by Cody Matthewson, who has since left for Van Meter. I interviewed new head coach, Will Shull, who has been an assistant under Matthewson recently. He hopes to continue the success the program has been having in recent years.
Before there was ACGC, there was Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center. Guthrie Center’s all-time record sits at 138-96. The best season was a 13-0 state championship winning campaign in 1996. Adair-Casey nearly has the best all-time win-loss ratio of any team in the conference with their record of 179-72. That includes back-to-back state championships in 2000 and 2001. Their 10-0 state-title-winning team is arguable their best. In terms of wins, AC was 12-1 in 2013 but did not win the big one.
Outside of those hometown team’s, this document is still fantastic. I looked up my alma mater, Des Moines Lincoln, as well. The school’s all-time record is 131-177. Not great, I know.
Two more fun tabs to look at are the 70% wins tab and the all-time wins leaders tab. With the requirements of playing at least 300 games and being active in 2025, West Lyon leads all high schools with an 84.51 winning percentage at a record of 333-61. I can’t even get those type of records on video games.
Naturally, West Lyon tops the chart for the most wins as well. Maybe I should make the trek out there and see one of their games. Or just wait for the state tournament and see them there, since it seems like an inevitability. Rounding out the top five for most wins is Harlan Community, 329 wins; Solon, 327 wins; Valley, West Des Moines, 321 wins; and Dowling Catholic, 320 wins.
I hope you enjoy that spreadsheet as much as I do. Feel free to reach out with interesting bits you find on it, or comments, suggestions and story ideas to cyote@dmcityview.com.