Iowa high school football 2023: Who the ranked teams face in Week 3

Take a peek at this week’s Iowa high school football schedule and you might think the postseason has already started. It’s a stacked slate across the state.

Five of the seven top-ranked teams in The Gazette’s poll face ranked opposition, including Southeast Polk hosting No. 3 Cedar Rapids Prairie in Class 5A.

After Cedar Rapids Xavier fell out of the top spot in Class 4A, every top-five team in that class will be tested in a ranked-vs.-ranked matchup.

And a lot of these pairings are series we don’t typically see, like North Polk at Webster City, Van Meter at Humboldt or Pella Christian at Grundy Center.

The stakes aren’t win or your season is over, but there is a November feel here nonetheless.

Here’s who all 73 teams ranked in this week’s Gazette poll face.

Class 5A

No. 1 Southeast Polk (2-0) vs. No. 3 Cedar Rapids Prairie (2-0)

No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling (2-0) vs. No. 8 Ankeny (1-1)

No. 3 Cedar Rapids Prairie (2-0) at No. 1 Southeast Polk (2-0)

No. 4 Linn-Mar (2-0) vs. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (0-2)

No. 5 Bettendorf (2-0) at Urbandale (1-1)

No. 6 Cedar Falls (1-1) at Ankeny Centennial (1-1)

No. 7 Waukee Northwest (1-1) vs. Des Moines Roosevelt (2-0)

No. 8 Ankeny (1-1) at No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling (2-0)

No. 8 Johnston (1-1) vs. No. 10 West Des Moines Valley (0-2)

No. 10 West Des Moines Valley (0-2) at No. 8 Johnston (1-1)

Class 4A

No. 1 Adel ADM (2-0) vs. No. 8 Council Bluffs Lewis Central (1-1)

No. 2 North Scott (2-0) at 3A No. 7 Davenport Assumption (2-0)

No. 3 Western Dubuque (2-0) at No. 5 Cedar Rapids Xavier (1-1)

No. 4 North Polk (2-0) at 3A No. 5 Webster City (2-0)

No. 5 Cedar Rapids Xavier (1-1) vs. No. 3 Western Dubuque (2-0)

No. 6 Bondurant-Farrar (1-1) at Waverly-Shell Rock (0-2)

No. 7 Glenwood (2-0) at 3A No. 3 Harlan (1-1)

No. 8 Council Bluffs Lewis Central (1-1) at No. 8 Adel ADM (2-0)

No. 9 Norwalk (2-0) at Newton (1-1)

No. 10 Gilbert (2-0) at Mason City (1-1)

Class 3A

No. 1 Williamsburg (2-0) vs. Clear Creek Amana (0-2)

No. 2 Mount Vernon (2-0) vs. Benton Community (2-0)

No. 3 Harlan (1-1) vs. 4A No. 7 Glenwood (2-0)

No. 4 Nevada (2-0) vs. 2A No. 7 Monroe PCM (1-1)

No. 5 Webster City (2-0) vs. 4A No. 4 North Polk (2-0)

No. 6 Creston (2-0) vs. Ballard (1-1)

No. 7 Davenport Assumption (2-0) vs. 4A No. 2 North Scott (2-0)

No. 8 Humboldt (2-0) vs. 2A No. 1 Van Meter (2-0)

No. 9 Clear Lake (2-0) at Iowa Falls-Alden (0-2)

No. 10 Hampton-Dumont-CAL (2-0) at West Marshall (0-2)

No. 10 Sioux City Heelan (2-0) vs. Sioux City East (1-1)

Class 2A

No. 1 Van Meter (2-0) at 3A No. 8 Humboldt (2-0)

No. 2 Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (2-0) vs. West Sioux (1-1)

No. 3 Western Christian (2-0) at Pocahontas Area (1-1)

No. 4 West Lyon (2-0) vs. Ida Grove OABCIG (1-1)

No. 5 Monticello (1-1) vs. Cascade (1-1)

No. 6 Spirit Lake (1-1) vs. Spencer (0-2)

No. 7 Monroe PCM (1-1) at 3A No. 4 Nevada (2-0)

No. 8 Greene County (1-1) vs. Atlantic (1-1)

No. 9 Cherokee (2-0) at Ridge View (2-0)

No. 9 Clarinda (2-0) at Treynor (2-0)

Class 1A

No. 1 Grundy Center (2-0) vs. No. 6 Pella Christian (2-0)

No. 2 MFL MarMac (2-0) vs. New Hampton (0-2)

No. 3 Underwood (1-1) vs. Council Bluffs St. Albert (1-1)

No. 4 Waterloo Columbus (2-0) vs. West Branch (0-2)

No. 5 Avoca AHSTW (2-0) at Carroll Kuemper (0-2)

No. 6 Pella Christian (2-0) at No. 1 Grundy Center (2-0)

No. 7 South Hamilton (2-0) vs. Roland-Story (1-1), at Gilbert

No. 8 Iowa City Regina (2-0) at Mediapolis (1-1)

No. 9 Sumner-Fredericksburg (2-0) at Oelwein (0-2)

No. 10 Denver (2-0) at North Fayette Valley (0-2)

Class A

No. 1 West Hancock (2-0) at No. 5 Saint Ansgar (2-0)

No. 2 Lynnville-Sully (2-0) at Pleasantville (2-0)

No. 3 Woodbury Central (2-0) at Logan-Magnolia (2-0)

No. 4 East Buchanan (1-1) vs. No. 9 Maquoketa Valley (2-0)

No. 5 Saint Ansgar (2-0) vs. No. 1 West Hancock (2-0)

No. 6 Madrid (2-0) at Mount Ayr (2-0)

No. 6 South Central Calhoun (2-0) vs. Oakland Riverside (1-1)

No. 8 Nashua-Plainfield (2-0) at Conrad BCLUW (0-2)

No. 9 Maquoketa Valley (2-0) at No. 4 East Buchanan (1-1)

No. 10 Columbus Community (1-1) vs. Lisbon (2-0)

No. 10 North Linn (2-0) vs. Starmont (2-0)

8-Player

No. 1 Gladbrook-Reinbeck (2-0) at Meskwaki (0-1)

No. 2 Winfield-Mount Union (2-0) vs. No. 5 WACO (2-0)

No. 3 Anita CAM (2-0) at East Mills (1-1)

No. 4 Lenox (2-0) at No. 8 Bedford (2-0)

No. 5 WACO (2-0) at No. 2 Winfield-Mount Union (2-0)

No. 6 Central City (1-1) vs. Edgewood-Colesburg (2-0)

No. 6 Remsen St. Mary’s (2-0) at West Bend-Mallard (1-1)

No. 8 Bedford (2-0) vs. No. 4 Lenox (2-0)

No. 9 Ruthven GTRA (2-0) at Rockford (0-2)

No. 10 Don Bosco (1-1) vs. Riceville (2-0), Thursday

No. 10 Lansing Kee (2-0) vs. Waterloo Christian (0-2), Thursday

Comments: nathan.ford@thegazette.com