Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Jonathan Gannon has never been a big talker on the football field.

For three seasons Gannon has worked diligently and for the most part silently to become a stalwart on the West High offensive line.

“He’s just quietly productive,” West High offensive line coach Travis Meade said of the senior left tackle.

With his career on the line in last Friday’s Class 4A playoff opener against Cedar Rapids Washington Gannon finally had something to say.

Gannon paved the way for West High to roll up a season-high 381 rushing yards and six touchdowns in a 49-7 win over the Warriors and he wasn’t shy about letting his coaches know to keep the run plays coming.

“It was a lot of fun telling the coaches to keep running the ball,” Gannon said. “We got mad at our offensive coordinator a couple of times when we passed the ball twice in a row. We said ‘what are you doing we need to keep running the ball’.”

Gannon waited a long time for a game like Friday.

A three-year starter, Gannon got his feet wet at the varsity level as a 190-pound sophomore in 2015.

As an undersized sophomore Gannon learned quickly he couldn’t rely on strength but had to use technique and positioning to be successful against older, stronger defensive lineman.

“That was kind of our conversation when we he came up that season he learned that he can’t have the same position he had in a sophomore game,” Meade said. “We saw the talent when he was a sophomore he just didn’t have the size.”

Fast forward a few seasons and a bigger, stronger, louder and more experienced Gannon is a force on a senior laden West High line that returned just one other starter from last season.

Gannon has packed nearly 50 pounds on to his 6-foot-4 frame and is up to 245 pounds.

“It’s a lot easier when you have the weight advantage and the strength advantage but I know the offense better and I’m better mentally now. I feel like I’ve stepped into more of a leadership role this year,” Gannon said. “I’m talking more and trying to get with some of the younger guys and trying to communicate with them.”

After three years of learning with plenty of lumps along the way Friday was fun for Gannon and his West High teammates up front.

The 381 rushing yards last week were the most for West High since 2013 and came while averaging 9.1 yards per carry.  

“It’s a lot more fun run blocking and having a game like that when you know you are just going to keep running it,” Gannon said. “A lot of it is communication and all being on the same page offensively.”

The 381-yard explosion raised a few eyebrows but wasn’t a surprise to Gannon or West High coach Garrett Hartwig.

Over the past several seasons West High has been known offensively for its prolific passing attack.

Behind the play and leadership of Gannon the Trojans have quietly become a team capable of controlling a game on the ground.

West High is averaging 219 yards per game on the ground and 6.1 yards per carry. Both are the best in four seasons under Hartwig.

Gannon has been a big part of that success.

“He’s very strong, he’s very athletic and he’s in shape,” Hartwig said. “He could play 100 snaps a game if he had to.”

Gannon and his offensive line mates will face a tough task in Friday’s 4A quarterfinal matchup against Cedar Falls at Trojan Field.

The Tigers enter the game allowing 77 yards per game on the ground and holding opponents to just 2.8 yards per carry.

West High rushed for 170 yards on 42 carries in a 32-31 overtime win over the Tigers back on Sept. 8.

The 170 yards are the fourth fewest for West High in a game this season.

“Cedar Falls is a very good team defensively they are always tough,” Gannon said. “It’s fun to play a team like that, they are very straight forward and they don’t try anything tricky. They are going to come right at us and give us what they have and we’re going to give them what we have.”