Iowa high school football 2023 rankings: The Gazette’s post-Week 7 poll

This week’s Gazette Iowa high school football poll features two new No. 1 teams.

OK, two-and-a-half.

And the fun hasn’t ended yet.

Creston is the new top-ranked team in Class 3A, and Winfield-Mount Union is new to the 8-Player summit.

Meanwhile, there now is a tie at the top in Class 2A, with Central Lyon/George-Little Rock matching Van Meter.

Creston replaces Williamsburg in 3A, in the wake of the Raiders’ 21-14 loss to Solon.

Barely ranked in the preseason (tied for No. 9), the Panthers have climbed steadily as they raked up the wins. They and No. 2 Clear Lake are the two remaining unbeatens in 3A.

Solon is up four spots to No. 3, followed by Mount Vernon and Williamsburg.

Clarksville’s 38-36 win over previous 8-player No. 1 Gladbrook-Reinbeck opened the door for Winfield-Mount Union. The Wolves grabbed three first-place votes this week and hold a slim 56-55 lead in poll points over Anita CAM.

Fellow unbeatens Bedford, Remsen St. Mary’s and Clarksville round out the top five.

In 2A, Van Meter has held an ultra-slim edge on CL-GLR all season, and the Lions’ schedule has allowed them to draw even with the Bulldogs. The teams evenly split the six first-place votes, and the poll-points ledger is a 57-57 deadlock.

CL-GLR hosts No. 3 West Lyon on Friday in the state’s second-biggest game of Week 8.

The biggest is at Pleasant Hill, where 5A No. 1 Southeast Polk welcomes No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling.

The Rams and the Maroons have been 1-2 all season. Southeast Polk is a unanimous leader this week.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy is No. 3.

Big-school showdowns are the norm this week. Among the other headliners are No. 5 Waukee Northwest at No. 7 Ankeny Centennial, and No. 8 Bettendorf at No. 10 Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Western Dubuque and Adel ADM remain deadlocked atop the 4A balloting. Both teams received 55 poll points, with Western Dubuque claiming a 3-1 advantage in first-place votes.

Bondurant-Farrar, Lewis Central and Cedar Rapids Xavier complete the 4A top five.

Grundy Center, Underwood, Sumner-Fredericksburg, MFL MarMac and Wilton are the top five teams in 1A; Saint Ansgar, Woodbury Central, West Hancock, Madrid and Lisbon are the Class A leaders.

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

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Southeast Polk (6) 7-0 60 1

2. West Des Moines Dowling 7-0 54 2

3. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 5-2 44 3

4. Ankeny 5-2 35 6

T-5. Pleasant Valley 6-1 33 5

T-5. Waukee Northwest 5-2 33 7

7. Ankeny Centennial 4-3 27 8

8. Bettendorf 6-1 18 9

9. Waukee 5-2 16 4

10. Cedar Rapids Prairie 4-3 7 10

Others receiving votes: None.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts Pvs

T-1. Adel ADM (1) 6-1 55 1

T-1. Western Dubuque (3) 6-1 55 1

3. Bondurant-Farrar (2) 6-1 51 3

4. Lewis Central 5-2 40 5

5. Cedar Rapids Xavier 5-2 37 6

6. North Scott 5-2 28 7

7. North Polk 5-2 22 8

8. Gilbert 6-1 14 4

9. Le Mars 6-1 11 9

10. Norwalk 5-2 5 —

Dropped out: Decorah (10), Indianola (10).

Others receiving votes: Glenwood 4, Ballard 3, Decorah 3, Newton 2.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Creston (5) 7-0 59 2

2. Clear Lake (1) 7-0 54 3

3. Solon 6-1 44 7

4. Mount Vernon 6-1 38 4

5. Williamsburg 6-1 37 1

6. Sioux Center 6-1 29 6

7. Nevada 6-1 26 9

8. Davenport Assumption 5-2 18 8

9. Independence 6-1 9 10

10. Harlan 4-3 7 5

Dropped out: Sioux City Heelan (10).

Others receiving votes: Sioux City Heelan 6, Algona 3.

CLASS 2A W-L Pts Pvs

T-1. Central Lyon-GLR (3) 7-0 57 2

T-1. Van Meter (3) 7-0 57 1

3. West Lyon 7-0 48 3

4. Spirit Lake 6-1 39 4

5. Monticello 6-1 36 5

6. Carroll Kuemper 5-2 32 7

T-7. Monroe PCM 5-2 18 8

T-7. Western Christian 5-2 18 6

9. Roland-Story 5-2 14 9

10. Clarinda 5-2 5 10

Others receiving votes: Mediapolis 3, Cherokee 2.

CLASS 1A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Grundy Center (6) 7-0 60 1

2. Underwood 6-1 54 2

3. Sumner-Fredericksburg 6-1 43 3

4. MFL MarMac 6-1 41 4

5. Wilton 7-0 40 5

6. Sigourney-Keota 6-1 28 7

7. Iowa City Regina 6-1 20 9

8. Dike-New Hartford 4-3 12 10

9. West Branch 4-3 11 8

10. Denver 5-2 9 6

Others receiving votes: South Hamilton 4, Treynor 3, Waterloo Columbus 3, Avoca AHSTW 2.

CLASS A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Saint Ansgar (4) 7-0 58 1

2. Woodbury Central (2) 7-0 54 2

3. West Hancock 6-1 48 3

4. Madrid 7-0 42 4

5. Lisbon 7-0 31 5

6. Guthrie Center ACGC 7-0 28 6

7. Lynnville-Sully 6-1 24 7

8. Wapsie Valley 6-1 20 9

9. Starmont 6-1 14 10

10. Logan-Magnolia 6-1 6 —

Dropped out: Lake Mills (7).

Others receiving votes: East Buchanan 3, Lake Mills 1, Maquoketa Valley 1.

8-PLAYER W-L Pts Pvs

1. Winfield-Mount Union (3) 7-0 56 2

2. Anita CAM (2) 7-0 55 3

3. Bedford 7-0 42 4

4. Remsen St. Mary’s (1) 7-0 38 5

5. Clarksville 8-0 37 9

6. Central City 6-1 31 6

7. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 6-1 27 1

8. Don Bosco 6-1 17 7

9. Lenox 6-1 16 8

10. WACO 6-1 6 10

Others receiving votes: Moravia 5.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com