Iowa high school football 2025: The Gazette’s post-Week 7 poll

When someone from outside Central Iowa Suburbia takes down someone within, it’s noteworthy.

When it happens in the 515 area code, even more so.

Iowa City Liberty did it earlier this season. Sioux City East did it Friday night.

East’s 21-17 win at Johnston legitimized the Black Raiders as a more-than-simply-good Class 5A football team. Members of The Gazette voting panel took note, bumping East four spots in this week’s poll to No. 6.

The was the only major shakeup this week as the regular season continued to melt, and the postseason continued to loom closer.

This is the final week of the regular season in Class 2A, Class 1A, Class A and 8-Player, so we’ll highlight the smaller classes first.

Five unbeatens remain in 2A, and two of them (No. 1 Carroll Kuemper and No. 4 Okoboji) collide this week in a District 2 showdown in Carroll.

Monroe PCM and Osage remain second and third; Mid-Prairie is up a spot to No. 5.

Grundy Center, West Lyon and Iowa City Regina have been 1-2-3 all season in 1A. All are 7-0, and are followed by Treynor and South Hardin.

The list of Class A unbeatens was whittled to eight upon Marcus MMCRU’s 14-7 victory over West Sioux last week.

Saint Ansgar, West Hancock, Woodbury Central, MMCRU and Guthrie Center ACGC are the top five. The Class A game of the week is at Fairbank, where No. 7 Wapsie Valley welcomes No. 6 North Linn.

Each of the top seven 8-Player teams were winners last week, all are 7-0, and all are favored to close out the regular season victoriously.

Algona Garrigan, Woodbine, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Iowa Valley and Audubon lead the way.

Two weeks remain in the regular season in 5A, 4A and 3A.

Waukee Northwest is the lone 7-0 team in 5A and hosts intracity rival Waukee this week.

West Des Moines Valley, West Des Moines Dowling, Iowa City Liberty and Cedar Falls complete the top 10. Valley is at No. 8 Ankeny this week.

Class 4A top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier faces a challenge at home this week, against No. 9 Decorah. The Saints are followed in 4A by North Polk, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Gilbert and Newton.

Clear Lake, Solon, Sioux City Heelan, West Delaware and Sioux Center comprise the 3A top five.

Mount Vernon dropped from fourth to No. 9 after suffering a 33-24 loss at Central DeWitt, and the Mustangs host No. 6 Dubuque Wahlert this week.

The Gazette’s post-Week 7 football poll

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Waukee Northwest (6) 7-0 60 1

2. West Des Moines Valley 6-1 54 2

3. West Des Moines Dowling 6-1 48 3

4. Iowa City Liberty 6-1 40 5

5. Cedar Falls 6-1 32 6

6. Sioux City East 6-1 28 10

7. Iowa City West 6-1 24 8

8. Ankeny 5-2 20 7

9. Johnston 5-2 18 4

10. Southeast Polk 4-3 5 9

Others receiving votes: Dallas Center-Grimes 1.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Cedar Rapids Xavier (6) 7-0 60 1

2. North Polk 6-1 50 2

3. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 6-1 47 2

4. Gilbert 7-0 41 4

5. Newton 6-1 38 5

6. Pella 6-1 31 6

7. Adel ADM 6-1 27 7

8. Western Dubuque 5-2 17 8

9. Decorah 6-1 13 9

10. Fort Dodge 6-1 4 —

Others receiving votes: Lewis Central 2.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Clear Lake (6) 7-0 60 1

2. Solon 7-0 53 2

3. Sioux City Heelan 6-1 49 3

4. West Delaware 7-0 42 5

5. Sioux Center 6-1 34 6

6. Dubuque Wahlert 5-2 29 7

7. Des Moines Christian 6-1 23 9

8. Central DeWitt 5-2 15 —

9. Mount Vernon 5-2 13 4

10. Nevada 5-2 8 —

Dropped out: Williamsburg (8), Davenport Assumption (10).

Others receiving votes: Humboldt 4.

CLASS 2A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Carroll Kuemper (6) 7-0 60 1

2. Monroe PCM 6-1 53 2

3. Osage 7-0 47 3

4. Okoboji 7-0 40 4

5. Mid-Prairie 6-1 33 6

6. Woodward-Granger 6-1 32 5

7. Centerville 7-0 21 7

8. Bellevue 7-0 19 8

9. Van Meter 5-2 15 9

10. Cherokee 5-2 6 —

Dropped out: Western Christian (10).

Others receiving votes: Alburnett 4.

CLASS 1A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Grundy Center (5) 7-0 59 1

2. West Lyon (1) 7-0 54 2

3. Iowa City Regina 7-0 49 3

4. Treynor 6-1 41 4

5. South Hardin 6-1 37 5

6. Dyersville Beckman 6-1 27 6

7. Pleasantville 6-1 25 7

8. Underwood 5-2 20 8

9. West Marshall 5-2 12 9

10. Manson-NW Webster 5-2 4 —

Dropped out: Interstate 35 (10).

Others receiving votes: Cascade 2.

CLASS A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Saint Ansgar (4) 7-0 57 1

2. West Hancock (1) 7-0 52 2

3. Woodbury Central 7-0 47 3

4. Marcus MMCRU (1) 7-0 45 4

5. Guthrie Center ACGC 7-0 37 5

6. North Linn 7-0 27 7

7. Wapsie Valley 7-0 25 8

8. Pekin 7-0 15 9

9. West Sioux 6-1 12 6

10. Oakland Riverside 6-1 7 10

Others receiving votes: Lynnville-Sully 6.

8-PLAYER W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Algona Garrigan (5) 7-0 59 1

2. Woodbine (1) 7-0 54 2

3. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 7-0 48 3

4. Iowa Valley 7-0 42 4

5. Audubon 7-0 36 5

6. Edgewood-Colesburg 7-0 31 6

7. Ruthven GTRA 7-0 23 7

8. Don Bosco 4-2 13 9

9. Montezuma 5-2 8 9

10. Easton Valley 6-1 6 —

Dropped out: Kingsley-Pierson (8).

Others receiving votes: Bedford 3, Fremont-Mills 3, Southeast Warren 3, Kingsley-Pierson 1.

* * * * *

The IHSAA’s RPI and committee rankings after Week 7

The Iowa High School Athletic Association has released its first RPI rankings for Class 5A, Class 4A and Class 3A, and its committee rankings for the other four classes.

In 5A, RPI completely decides the 16-team playoff field.

In 4A and 3A, the top two teams in each district are automatic qualifiers. The four at-large teams are determined by RPI.

In 2A, 1A and A, the 32 qualifying teams are easy to determine, it’s the top four teams in each of eight districts.

In 8-Player, the top three teams qualify from each of 10 districts. Two qualifiers are determined via the plus/minus-17 rule.

Rankings in the four smallest classes are used for seeding and pairings only and have no bearing on qualification.

Three regular-season weeks remain in 5A, 4A and 3A. For the other four classes, it’s two regular-season weeks.

IHSAA rankings, through Week 7

CLASS 5A (RPI) W-L RPI

1. Waukee Northwest 7-0 .6916

2. West Des Moines Dowling 6-1 .6689

3. West Des Moines Valley 6-1 .6641

4. Sioux City East 6-1 .6285

5. Ankeny 5-2 .6230

6. Iowa City Liberty 6-1 .6224

7. Johnston 5-2 .6184

8. Cedar Falls 6-1 .6078

9. Iowa City West 6-1 .5838

10. Dallas Center-Grimes 5-2 .5628

10. Southeast Polk 4-3 .5628

12. Ankeny Centennial 4-3 .5553

13. Cedar Rapids Prairie 4-3 .5373

14. Dubuque Senior 5-2 .5295

15. Norwalk 4-3 .5254

16. Waterloo West 4-3 .5236

16. Indianola 4-3 .5236

18. Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 4-3 .5117

19. Urbandale 4-3 .5093

20. Waukee 2-5 .4965

CLASS 4A (RPI) W-L RPI

1. Cedar Rapids Xavier (D2) 7-0 .6865

2. Decorah (D2) 6-1 .6508

3. North Polk (D5) 6-1 .6488

4. Gilbert (D5) 7-0 .6481

5. Sergeant Bluff-Luton (D1) 6-1 .6462

6. Pella (D4) 6-1 .6208

7. Western Dubuque (D3) 5-2 .6157

8. Newton (D4) 6-1 .6135

9. Fort Dodge (D1) 6-1 .6049

10. Adel ADM (D6) 6-1 .6034

11. Glenwood (D6) 5-2 .5622

12. Le Mars (D1) 4-3 .5580

13. North Scott (D3) 4-3 .5463

14. Lewis Central (D6) 4-3 .5434

15. Burlington (D3) 5-2 .5357

16. Davenport North (D3) 5-2 .5284

17. Grinnell (D4) 4-3 .5000

18. Mason City (D2) 3-4 .4881

19. Waverly-Shell Rock 3-4 .4852

20. Carlisle 3-4 .4821

CLASS 3A (RPI) W-L RPI

1. Clear Lake (D2) 7-0 .7147

2. West Delaware (D2) 7-0 .7098

3. Solon (D4) 7-0 .6850

4. Sioux City Heelan (D1) 6-1 .6733

5. Sioux Center (D1) 6-1 .6396

6. Des Moines Christian (D5) 6-1 .6256

7. Dubuque Wahlert (D3) 5-2 .6182

8. Mount Pleasant (D4) 6-1 .5973

9. Nevada (D5) 5-2 .5933

10. Benton Community (D2) 4-3 .5880

11. Mount Vernon (D3) 5-2 .5693

12. Central DeWitt (D3) 5-2 .5628

13. Humboldt (D1) 4-3 .5619

14. Independence (D2) 4-3 .5555

15. MOC-Floyd Valley (D1) 4-3 .5403

16. Atlantic (D6) 4-3 .5298

17. Winterset (D5) 4-3 .5263

18. Iowa Falls-Alden (D2) 3-4 .5257

19. Williamsburg (D5) 3-4 .5216

20. Davenport Assumption (D3) 4-3 .5196

CLASS 2A (Committee) W-L Pvs

1. Carroll Kuemper 7-0 1

2. Monroe PCM 6-1 2

3. Okoboji 7-0 3

4. Bellevue 7-0 4

5. Centerville 7-0 5

6. Mid-Prairie 6-1 7

7. Osage 7-0 6

8. Alburnett 5-2 9

9. Van Meter 5-2 10

10. West Branch 5-2 —

CLASS 1A (Committee) W-L Pvs

1. West Lyon 7-0 1

2. Grundy Center 7-0 2

3. Iowa City Regina 7-0 3

4. South Hardin 6-1 4

5. Treynor 6-1 5

6. Pleasantville 6-1 6

7. Underwood 5-2 7

8. Dyersville Beckman 6-1 8

9. West Marshall 5-2 9

10. Ridge View 4-3 —

CLASS A (Committee) W-L Pvs

1. Marcus MMCRU 7-0 1

2. Saint Ansgar 7-0 2

3. Guthrie Center ACGC 7-0 3

4. West Sioux 6-1 4

5. Wapsie Valley 7-0 6

6. North Linn 7-0 7

7. West Hancock 7-0 5

8. Woodbury Central 7-0 8

9. Oakland Riverside 6-1 9

10. Lynnville-Sully 6-1 10

8-PLAYER (Committee) W-L Pvs

1. Algona Garrigan 7-0 1

2. Woodbine 7-0 2

3. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 7-0 3

4. Iowa Valley 7-0 4

5. Audubon 7-0 5

6. Edgewood-Colesburg 7-0 6

7. Ruthven GTRA 7-0 7

8. Don Bosco 4-2 8

9. Fremont-Mills 5-2 10

10. Bedford 6-1 —

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com