Iowa high school football rankings: The Gazette’s 2024 post-Week 1 poll

Congestion and movement among the Central Iowa big-school football powers is underway, right away.

Ankeny Centennial’s 31-10 romp over preseason No. 1 Ankeny caused the season’s first big shift in the Class 5A list in The Gazette’s football poll.

As a result, West Des Moines Valley is one of three new top-ranked teams, joining West Lyon (Class 2A) and Grundy Center (1A).

Valley snapped Southeast Polk’s 22-game win streak, 20-17, at Pleasant Valley. The Tigers have another stiff challenge this week, at Valley Stadium against co-No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling.

Each of the top seven 5A teams hail from the center of the state. Dowling is tied for second with Waukee, then it’s Centennial at No. 4, followed by Southeast Polk, Johnston and Ankeny.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy is tied for eighth after a 24-12 loss at Dowling; Linn-Mar breaks into the 5A poll at No. 10.

Reigning 4A champion Lewis Central is the season’s first unanimous No. 1; the Titans were impressive in a 31-10 opening win over Harlan, their 10th consecutive victory.

North Scott and Western Dubuque hold their previous spots at 2 and 3. North Polk is up two notches to No. 4 after outscoring Bondurant-Farrar, 42-41, last week.

Indianola is fifth. Cedar Rapids Xavier stays at No. 7 after a 14-7 win over Waverly-Shell Rock.

Xavier travels to Williamsburg this week; the Raiders solidified their hold on 3A No. 1 status by bombing West Branch, 55-10, for their seventh straight victory.

Five of the top seven teams in 3A are Wamac Conference squads.

Solon jumped on Davenport Assumption early last week in a 33-7 victory, and remains at No. 2. Mount Vernon is up two spots to No. 3; West Delaware (which suffered a 21-13 defeat to Western Dubuque) and Independence are sixth and seventh.

Algona jumped three spots to No. 4 after toppling previous 2A No. 1 Spirit Lake; Clear Lake is No. 5.

West Lyon is the new 2A No. 1 upon its 35-7 conquest of Sioux Center. Then it’s Van Meter, Monroe PCM, Spirit Lake and Western Christian.

Defending 1A champion Grundy Center climbed to its familiar top spot after downing Dike-New Hartford, 21-7, in a 1-vs.-2 showdown at home. It was the Spartans’ 27th consecutive victory.

No. 2 Wilton and No. 3 Ida Grove OABCIG both are up two spots. Underwood and Dike-New Hartford round out the top five.

The top three in Class A — Woodbury Central, Guthrie Center ACGC and West Hancock — are unchanged. Logan-Magnolia and Saint Ansgar climb into the top five.

Remsen St. Mary’s maintains a slim lead over Bedford for the top spot in the 8-Player poll. Defending champion Algona Garrigan moved up a slot to No. 3, and Audubon is the big mover — up from ninth to fourth — after a 38-20 win over Anita CAM. Don Bosco is fifth.

The Gazette’s post-Week 1 football poll

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. West Des Moines Valley (4) 1-0 57 2

T-2. Waukee (1) 1-0 49 3

T-2. West Des Moines Dowling (1) 1-0 49 3

4. Ankeny Centennial 1-0 43 —

5. Southeast Polk 0-1 39 5

6. Johnston 1-0 20 8

7. Ankeny 0-1 19 1

T-8. Bettendorf 1-0 15 7

T-8. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 0-1 15 6

10. Linn-Mar 1-0 12 —

Dropped out: Iowa City High (8), Waukee Northwest (10).

Others receiving votes: Sioux City East 6, Cedar Falls 4, Iowa City High 2.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Lewis Central (6) 1-0 60 1

2. North Scott 1-0 48 2

3. Western Dubuque 1-0 43 3

4. North Polk 1-0 40 6

5. Indianola 1-0 31 4

6. Bondurant-Farrar 0-1 27 4

7. Cedar Rapids Xavier 1-0 25 7

8. Pella 1-0 16 9

9. Decorah 1-0 13 —

10. Gilbert 1-0 12 —

Dropped out: Ballard (8), Waverly-Shell Rock (9).

Others receiving votes: Norwalk 7, Adel ADM 5, Waverly-Shell Rock 3.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Williamsburg (5) 1-0 59 1

2. Solon (1) 1-0 43 2

3. Mount Vernon 1-0 39 5

4. Algona 1-0 37 7

5. Clear Lake 1-0 35 4

6. West Delaware 0-1 33 3

7. Independence 1-0 32 6

8. Nevada 1-0 16 8

9. MOC-Floyd Valley 1-0 13 10

10. Harlan 0-1 7 9

Others receiving votes: Humboldt 6, Sioux City Heelan 5, Dubuque Wahlert 4, Webster City 1.

CLASS 2A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. West Lyon (3) 1-0 56 2

2. Van Meter (1) 1-0 52 4

3. Monroe PCM (1) 1-0 49 3

4. Spirit Lake (1) 0-1 47 1

5. Western Christian 1-0 33 7

6. Clarinda 1-0 19 9

T-7. Central Lyon-GLR 0-1 17 6

T-7. Cherokee 1-0 17 10

9. Carroll Kuemper 0-1 10 5

10. Des Moines Christian 1-0 7 —

Dropped out: Mid-Prairie (8).

Others receiving votes: Northeast 5, Roland-Story 5, Jesup 4, Mid-Prairie 4, Anamosa 3, Mediapolis 2.

CLASS 1A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Grundy Center (4) 1-0 54 2

2. Wilton 1-0 45 4

3. Ida Grove OABCIG (2) 1-0 41 5

4. Underwood 0-1 38 3

5. Dike-New Hartford 0-1 36 1

6. Emmetsburg 1-0 34 7

7. Avoca AHSTW 1-0 30 6

8. Sumner-Fredericksburg 1-0 13 7

9. South Hardin 1-0 11 —

T-10. Iowa City Regina 1-0 8 —

T-10. MFL MarMac 1-0 8 9

Dropped out: Treynor (10).

Others receiving votes: Treynor 6, West Sioux 3, Hinton 2, Ridge View 1.

CLASS A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Woodbury Central (4) 1-0 56 1

2. Guthrie Center ACGC (1) 1-0 51 2

3. West Hancock 1-0 37 3

4. Logan-Magnolia 1-0 32 6

5. Saint Ansgar 1-0 28 6

6. Mount Ayr (1) 1-0 26 9

7. Starmont 1-0 20 8

8. Madrid 0-1 19 4

9. Earlham 1-0 13 —

10. Lisbon 1-0 10 —

Dropped out: Wapsie Valley (5), Tri-Center (10).

Others receiving votes: Oakland Riverside 9, IKM-Manning 8, Tri-Center 8, Wapsie Valley 6, Nashua-Plainfield 5, Lynnville-Sully 1.

8-PLAYER W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Remsen St. Mary’s (5) 1-0 53 1

2. Bedford (1) 1-0 50 2

3. Algona Garrigan 1-0 37 4

4. Audubon 1-0 35 9

5. Don Bosco 1-0 32 6

6. Lenox 1-0 31 5

7. Anita CAM 0-1 17 3

8. Iowa Valley 2-0 13 —

9. WACO 2-0 11 9

10. Lansing Kee 1-0 8 —

Dropped out: Gladbrook-Reinbeck (7), Clarksville (8).

Others receiving votes: Ar-We-Va 7, Clarksville 7, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 7, Winfield-Mount Union 7, Woodbine 6, Easton Valley 5, Belle Plaine 2, Colo-Nesco 2.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com