Viewing Tips for the Ankeny Hawks vs. Ankeny Jaguars Football Game

The historic meeting of the Ankeny Hawks and the Ankeny Jaguars, set for 7 p.m. Friday, is expected to draw crowds so large that the Ankeny School District has provided a list of preparation tips for the first high school football game of the season and the first ever for Ankeny Centennial High School.

Advance tickets go on sale at both the Ankeny High School and the Ankeny Centennial High School starting Wednesday. The gates will open at 5 p.m. The stadium is located behind Northview Middle School.

Traffic will be rerouted to the parking lots and no one will be able to enter the Ankeny Stadium lots from Ankeny Boulevard, but anyone can park at Ankeny Centennial High School and catch a shuttle.

A community tailgate event is set for 4 to 7 p.m. at the National Bank parking lot at 1205 N. Ankeny BLVD. Vendors will give away prizes and more. See the full announcement on Ankeny Patch.

See all tips from the Ankeny School District below:

• Advanced ticket sales will be from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. and 4:00-6:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 28 and Thursday, August 29 at both Ankeny High School and Ankeny Centennial High School.
• Gates to the stadium will open at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
• Due to the large crowd anticipated, special designated seating has been planned (see the chart).  Special gates have also been designated for students and staff with activities season passes.
• All driving traffic will be routed into the stadium parking lot from 18th street on the north and 9th street on the south. Entry to the parking lotwill not be allowed directly from Ankeny Blvd.
• Want to make parking a little easier? For this event only, park at Ankeny Centennial High School and catch a shuttle bus to the stadium parking lot. Shuttle buses will begin running at 5:00 p.m. and will run until approximately 45 minutes after the game ends.
• Nearly 400 high school students will participate in this game and surrounding activities, including players, band members, cheerleaders, color guard, student council and more!
• There will be two organization-sponsored tailgate events:
  • A Chamber of Commerce-hosted community tailgate from 4-7 p.m. at First National Bank (1205 N Ankeny Blvd.). For more info contact the Chamber at (515) 964-0685. See the Chamber of Commerce flier here.
  • An Alumni Association-sponsored tailgate will be held just north of the main gate.
• Executive Director of the IHSAA Rick Wulkow will flip a commemorative coin to begin the game, and you can own a piece of history! Exact copies of the coin used for the on-field flip are now on sale, celebrating the first meeting of the Hawks and Jaguars. These beautifully minted coins are a steal at just $10, but better yet, more than 60% of the price goes to the Athletic Departments of the both schools. These will be true collector’s items in Ankeny, so don't miss out! Purchase at the Activities Offices or order online at http://ankenyhawkshop.com/ or http://ankenyjagshop.com/
• Both marching bands will perform.
• Copies of the school song lyrics for both schools will be distributed so all fans can sing along. (Want to practice ahead of time? Recordings of the songs are available at the AHS and ACHS websites!)
• Participants from Ankeny Jr. Football will form a pre-game tunnel for the players.