Iowa high school football rankings: Kennedy finishes regular season as top-ranked 5A team

Cedar Rapids Kennedy will go into the Class 5A football playoffs as the No. 1 team in the state.

The Cougars concluded a 9-0 regular season Friday at Dalzell Field, escaping Dubuque Hempstead, 33-25. They had two of their closest calls of the season against the Dubuque schools, beating Dubuque Senior, 28-21, in Week 5.

Kennedy hosts Senior (5-4) in a first-round game Friday at Kingston Stadium.

The Cougars received five of six first-place votes and accumulated 59 poll points. No. 2 Southeast Polk (8-1) grabbed the other first-place tally and earned 54 points.

Ankeny, Cedar Rapids Prairie and West Des Moines Dowling round out the top five.

Prairie (7-2) moves up two spots from sixth after defeating Linn-Mar, 36-20, and will host Bettendorf (5-4) in a first-round game.

City High (8-1) is seventh, Linn-Mar (7-2) 10th.

North Scott (9-0) and Harlan (9-0) are unanimous No. 1s in 4A and 3A, respectively.

The defending 4A state champion, North Scott has allowed just 15 points in the last six games and has won all nine by double-digit margins.

Cedar Rapids Xavier (8-1), which played the Lancers to their closest margin of the season (20-8 in Week 4, is ranked No. 2, then it’s Indianola and Lewis Central in a third-place tie. Waverly-Shell Rock is fifth.

Harlan hasn’t faced a significant challenge since defeating Lewis Central in Week 1. The Cyclones have beaten their last eight opponents by 45.5 points per game.

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (9-0) has been similarly dominant and closes at No. 2. West Delaware (8-1) and Solon (9-0), which could meet in the second round of the playoffs, share the No. 3 peg, then it’s Humboldt at No. 5.

No. 6 Benton Community (8-1) hosts No. 7 Independence (8-1) in a 3A first-round game Friday at Van Horne.

The Gazette Iowa high school football poll

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A (Final) W-L Pts Pvs

1. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (5) 9-0 59 1

2. Southeast Polk (1) 8-1 54 2

3. Ankeny 7-2 44 3

4. Cedar Rapids Prairie 7-2 40 6

5. West Des Moines Dowling 6-3 35 5

6. West Des Moines Valley 7-2 29 7

7. Iowa City High 8-1 25 8

8. Pleasant Valley 7-2 20 10

9. Urbandale 7-2 11 4

10. Linn-Mar 7-2 9 9

Others receiving votes: Cedar Falls 2, Waukee Northwest 2.

CLASS 4A (Final) W-L Pts Pvs

1. North Scott (6) 9-0 60 1

2. Cedar Rapids Xavier 8-1 53 2

T-3. Indianola 8-1 43 3

T-3. Lewis Central 7-2 43 3

5. Waverly-Shell Rock 8-1 35 5

6. Bondurant-Farrar 8-1 31 7

7. Winterset 7-2 24 6

8. Webster City 7-2 22 8

9. Spencer 7-2 10 —

T-10. Decorah 6-3 3 8

T-10. Norwalk 6-3 3 10

Others receiving votes: Fort Dodge 2, Burlington 1.

CLASS 3A (Final) W-L Pts Pvs

1. Harlan (6) 9-0 60 1

2. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 9-0 53 2

T-3. Solon 9-0 43 3

T-3. West Delaware 8-1 43 4

5. Humboldt 9-0 41 4

6. Benton Community 8-1 25 7

7. Independence 8-1 24 6

8. Nevada 8-1 19 8

9. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 7-2 16 9

10. Adel ADM 7-2 5 10

Others receiving votes: Davenport Assumption 1.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com