Iowa high school 2023 football rankings: The Gazette’s post-Week 6 poll

Pick up a big win, make a big leap.

That was the theme for the football team from Cedar Rapids Kennedy this week. MFL MarMac, too.

The Cougars and the Bulldogs were the area’s biggest movers in this week’s Gazette football poll.

A 34-14 win over previously unbeaten Bettendorf enabled Kennedy (4-2) to jump four spots in the Class 5A balloting.

The Cougars joined Waukee in a deadlock in the No. 3 spot, behind season-long leaders Southeast Polk and West Des Moines Dowling.

Kennedy has won four games in a row after an 0-2 start (against Dowling and Pleasant Valley, which sits at No. 5 this week).

As for MFL MarMac (5-1), the Bulldogs bounced back upward in 1A, from No. 9 to No. 4, after whipping Dike-New Hartford on the road. MFL MarMac had been No. 2 most of the season, but dropped seven notches last week following a 13-9 loss to Sumner-Fredericksburg.

Seven of the top 10 teams in 1A are from two districts: Sumner-Fredericksburg, MFL MarMac, Denver and Dike-New Hartford are from District 3 and are third, fourth, sixth and 10th; District 5’s Wilton, West Branch and Iowa City Regina are fifth, eighth and ninth.

Grundy Center and Underwood are 1 and 2.

In Class 4A, Western Dubuque and Adel ADM remain co-leaders; both teams received 55 poll points (the Bobcats maintain a 3-1 lead in first-place votes).

Bondurant Farrar remains third, followed by Gilbert (the lone 4A unbeaten), Lewis Central and Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Williamsburg continues to be a unanimous No. 1 in 3A heading into Friday’s road test at No. 7 Solon. Creston, Clear Lake, Mount Vernon and Harlan complete the 3A top five.

Van Meter and Central Lyon/George-Little Rock are the 2A giants, with the Bulldogs holding a 57-56 poll-points advantage. Both teams received three first-place votes.

CL-GLR has an opportunity to advance in the last two weeks, closing the regular season against No. 5 Western Christian (away) and No. 3 West Lyon (home).

Spirit Lake is fourth, with Monticello sharing the 5-slot with Western.

The smallest two classes encountered little change.

Saint Ansgar, Woodbury Central, West Hancock and Madrid are 1-2-3-4 in Class A, with Lisbon climbing over Guthrie Center ACGC at No. 5.

There was no change at all throughout the 8-Player rankings. Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Winfield-Mount Union, Anita CAM, Bedford and Remsen St. Mary’s make up the top five.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released its first set of RPI rankings (5A, 4A and 3A) and its second set of committee rankings (2A, 1A, A and 8-Player) Monday.

Southeast Polk, Gilbert, Williamsburg, Central Lyon-GLR, Grundy Center, Saint Ansgar and Winfield-Mount Union are the IHSAA leaders through six weeks.

The Gazette’s post-Week 6 Iowa high school football poll

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Southeast Polk (5) 6-0 59 1

2. West Des Moines Dowling (1) 6-0 55 2

T-3. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 4-2 38 7

T-3. Waukee 5-1 38 5

5. Pleasant Valley 5-1 35 4

6. Ankeny 4-2 32 8

7. Waukee Northwest 4-2 27 9

8. Ankeny Centennial 3-3 22 6

9. Bettendorf 5-1 18 3

10. Cedar Rapids Prairie 3-3 6 10

Others receiving votes: None.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts Pvs

T-1. Adel ADM (1) 5-1 55 1

T-1. Western Dubuque (3) 5-1 55 1

3. Bondurant-Farrar (2) 5-1 51 3

4. Gilbert 6-0 36 6

5. Lewis Central 4-2 35 7

6. Cedar Rapids Xavier 4-2 33 8

7. North Scott 4-2 27 4

8. North Polk 4-2 11 5

9. Le Mars 5-1 7 —

T-10. Decorah 5-1 6 —

T-10. Indianola 4-2 6 10

Dropped out: Norwalk (9), Pella (10).

Others receiving votes: Ballard 4, Glenwood 2, Norwalk 2.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Williamsburg (6) 6-0 60 1

2. Creston 6-0 52 2

3. Clear Lake 6-0 43 4

4. Mount Vernon 5-1 42 6

5. Harlan 4-2 38 5

6. Sioux Center 5-1 28 8

7. Solon 5-1 26 7

8. Davenport Assumption 4-2 16 3

9. Nevada 5-1 13 9

T-10. Independence 5-1 4 —

T-10. Sioux City Heelan 5-1 4 —

Dropped out: Hampton-Dumont/CAL (10).

Others receiving votes: West Delaware 3, Algona 1, Benton Community 1, Humboldt 1.

CLASS 2A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Van Meter (3) 6-0 57 1

2. Central Lyon-GLR (3) 6-0 56 2

3. West Lyon 6-0 49 3

4. Spirit Lake 5-1 39 4

T-5. Monticello 5-1 32 5

T-5. Western Christian 5-1 32 6

7. Carroll Kuemper 4-2 29 7

8. Monroe PCM 4-2 16 9

9. Roland-Story 4-2 11 8

10. Clarinda 4-2 4 —

Dropped out: Cherokee (9).

Others receiving votes: Cherokee 2, Mediapolis 2.

CLASS 1A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Grundy Center (6) 6-0 60 1

2. Underwood 5-1 54 2

3. Sumner-Fredericksburg 5-1 43 8

4. MFL MarMac 5-1 41 9

5. Wilton 6-0 28 7

6. Denver 5-1 27 4

7. Sigourney-Keota 5-1 24 10

8. West Branch 4-2 23 —

9. Iowa City Regina 5-1 17 3

10. Dike-New Hartford 3-3 7 6

Dropped out: Treynor (5).

Others receiving votes: Treynor 4, South Hamilton 1, Waterloo Columbus 1.

CLASS A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Saint Ansgar (4) 6-0 57 1

2. Woodbury Central (2) 6-0 54 2

3. West Hancock 5-1 47 3

4. Madrid 6-0 40 4

5. Lisbon 6-0 31 6

6. Guthrie Center ACGC 6-0 28 5

T-7. Lake Mills 6-0 20 8

T-7. Lynnville-Sully 5-1 20 7

9. Wapsie Valley 5-1 15 9

10. Starmont 5-1 9 10

Others receiving votes: Logan-Magnolia 5, North Linn 2, East Buchanan 1.

8-PLAYER W-L Pts Pvs

1. Gladbrook-Reinbeck (3) 6-0 56 1

2. Winfield-Mount Union (1) 6-0 52 2

3. Anita CAM (1) 6-0 51 3

4. Bedford 6-0 38 4

5. Remsen St. Mary’s (1) 6-0 37 5

6. Central City 5-1 32 6

7. Don Bosco 5-1 23 7

8. Lenox 5-1 17 8

9. Clarksville 7-0 13 9

10. WACO 5-1 7 10

Others receiving votes: Moravia 4.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com