Iowa high school football 2025: Picking the area 8-Player districts

First in a series diving into the area Iowa high school football districts for the 2025 season. Today, we examine 8-Player.

Sixty-eight teams are assigned to 8-Player, with 32 advancing to the playoffs. The top three teams in each of 10 districts advance, plus two at-large qualifiers.

The 8-Player regular season will consist of eight games, with five rounds of playoffs.

A closer look at area districts:

District 4

OVERVIEW

The swing game of this district comes early: Edgewood-Colesburg visits Springville on Sept. 5. Ed-Co is coming off the best season of its 8-player era at 10-1, and though do-it-all Pryce Rochford has graduated after scoring an all-class state-best 67 touchdowns, the Vikings aren’t going to disappear. Seniors Carson Ingels and Christopher Lange are the top returning skill performers, and four of the top six tacklers from 2024 are projected to be back. With its roster back nearly intact, Springville (6-4) is poised to challenge. The Orioles are a mature, senior-laden bunch led by Mason Hoy, who compiled 1,277 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing, and picked up six takeaways, two for TDs. Easton Valley (5-4) and Central City (6-4) are projected to vie for the third automatic bid.

PROJECTIONS (*playoff qualifier)

1. *Edgewood-Colesburg

2. *Springville

3. *Easton Valley

4. *Central City

5. Elkader Central

6. Lansing Kee

7. Calamus-Wheatland

District 5

OVERVIEW

Lone Tree announced earlier this month that it would not field a varsity team in 2025, leaving this as a six-team district. Two of them — Iowa Valley and Belle Plaine — stand far above the rest. Iowa Valley (8-2) averaged 61 points per game last season, and the good times will roll again this fall with quarterback Nolan Kriegel manning the ship. Kriegel racked up more than 3,100 yards of total offense as a sophomore, running for 40 touchdowns and passing for 18. Belle Plaine (7-2) knocked off the Tigers, 30-24, in last year’s regular-season finale, and the Plainsmen host the rematch Sept. 5. Wade Sankot ran for 13 TDs last season, and led the Plainsmen in tackles with 68.5. Winfield-Mount Union (5-4) and WACO (8-2) appear to be the best of the rest.

PROJECTIONS (*playoff qualifier)

1. *Iowa Valley

2. *Belle Plaine

3. *Winfield-Mount Union

4. WACO

5. HLV-TC

6. English Valleys

Other districts with area teams

DISTRICT 3

1. *Don Bosco

2. *Turkey Valley

3. *Janesville

4. Tripoli

5. West Central

6. Cedar Ridge Christian

DISTRICT 6

1. *Gladbrook-Reinbeck

2. *Clarksville

3. *Collins-Maxwell

4. North Tama

5. Colo-Nesco

6. Garwin GMG

7. Meskwaki

DISTRICT 7

1. *Wayne

2. *Montezuma

3. *Southeast Warren

4. Baxter

5. Moravia

6. Melcher-Dallas

7. Twin Cedars

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com