Iowa high school football 2025: The Gazette’s post-Week 8 poll

They finished as they started.

Carroll Kuemper, Grundy Center, Saint Ansgar and Algona Garrigan completed wire-to-wire stays as No. 1 teams in The Gazette’s football poll.

Meanwhile, there’s a new No. 1 in Class 5A: West Des Moines Dowling.

The regular season is complete in Class 2A, Class 1A, Class A and 8-Player, with 32 teams in each of those classes beginning postseason play this week.

Kuemper, Grundy Center, Saint Ansgar and Garrigan all went 8-0. Saint Ansgar was a preseason co-No. 1 in Class A, along with Maquoketa Valley.

The unanimous top choice in 2A for the majority of the season, Kuemper opens the postseason at home against Grand View Christian (5-3).

Monroe PCM is No. 2, followed by Osage, Mid-Prairie and Van Meter.

Grundy Center has won three consecutive state championships and takes a 47-game win streak into its first-round encounter with Eddyville EBF (3-5).

Last year’s 2A champion, West Lyon has been No. 2 in 1A all season and is followed by Iowa City Regina, Treynor and South Hardin.

Saint Ansgar leads Class A in both scoring offense (49.6 points per game) and scoring defense (4.9 ppg allowed). The Saints won all eight of their games by 21 points or more, and kick off postseason play at home against East Marshall (5-3).

West Hancock, Woodbury Central, Marcus MMCRU and Guthrie Center ACGC complete in the Class A top five, and all are unbeaten.

Garrigan won all eight of its regular-season games by 40 points or more and has allowed only 6.5 points per contest. The Golden Bears welcome Kingsley-Pierson (6-3) for a first-round battle.

Woodbine has followed Garrigan in the 8-Player voting all season. Gladbrook-Reinbeck is third, followed by Iowa Valley and Audubon.

Dowling takes over the 5A throne after former No. 1 Waukee Northwest — the final big-school unbeaten — was upset, 31-28, at Waukee.

One of five 5A teams to lose last week, Northwest dropped only one spot, to No. 2. Iowa City Liberty is up a notch to No. 3 and is followed by Ankeny and Sioux City East.

Cedar Rapids Xavier’s season-long reign atop 4A continues after blanking Decorah, 34-0, at Saints Field. Xavier concludes the regular season Friday at Mason City (3-5).

The rest of the 4A top five consists of North Polk, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Gilbert and Newton.

North Polk is at Gilbert on Friday.

The regular-season game of the week Friday is at Clear Lake, where the unbeaten, 3A top-ranked Lions host No. 4 West Delaware (8-0) in the District 2 championship game.

Solon is ranked second, Sioux City Heelan third. Sioux Center is No. 5.

The Gazette’s post-Week 8 football poll

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. West Des Moines Dowling (6) 7-1 60 3

2. Waukee Northwest 7-1 50 1

3. Iowa City Liberty 7-1 46 4

4. Ankeny 6-2 39 8

5. Sioux City East 7-1 37 6

6. West Des Moines Valley 6-2 36 2

7. Johnston 6-2 26 9

8. Cedar Falls 6-2 15 5

9. Cedar Rapids Prairie 5-3 12 —

10. Iowa City West 6-2 5 7

Dropped out: Southeast Polk (10).

Others receiving votes: Dallas Center-Grimes 3, Norwalk 1.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Cedar Rapids Xavier (6) 8-0 60 1

2. North Polk 7-1 49 2

3. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 7-1 48 3

4. Gilbert 8-0 41 4

5. Newton 7-1 38 5

6. Pella 7-1 31 6

7. Adel ADM 7-1 27 7

8. Western Dubuque 6-2 18 8

9. Fort Dodge 7-1 12 10

10. North Scott 5-3 4 —

Dropped out: Decorah (9).

Others receiving votes: Decorah 1, Glenwood 1.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Clear Lake (6) 8-0 60 1

2. Solon 8-0 53 2

3. Sioux City Heelan 7-1 49 3

4. West Delaware 8-0 42 4

5. Sioux Center 7-1 35 5

6. Dubuque Wahlert 6-2 31 6

7. Central DeWitt 6-2 21 8

8. Nevada 6-2 20 10

9. Des Moines Christian 6-2 8 7

10. Carroll 5-3 5 —

Dropped out: Mount Vernon (9).

Others receiving votes: Mount Vernon 4, Atlantic 1, Davenport Assumption 1.

CLASS 2A (Final) W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Carroll Kuemper (6) 8-0 60 1

2. Monroe PCM 7-1 53 2

3. Osage 8-0 49 3

4. Mid-Prairie 7-1 39 5

5. Van Meter 6-2 33 9

6. Okoboji 7-1 26 4

7. Cherokee 6-2 23 10

8. Alburnett 6-2 13 —

9. West Branch 6-2 10 —

10. Clarinda 6-2 7 —

Dropped out: Woodward-Granger (6), Centerville (7), Bellevue (8).

Others receiving votes: Western Christian 6, Centerville 5, Bellevue 3, Ida Grove OABCIG 2.

CLASS 1A (Final) W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Grundy Center (5) 8-0 59 1

2. West Lyon (1) 8-0 54 2

3. Iowa City Regina 8-0 49 3

4. Treynor 7-1 40 4

5. South Hardin 7-1 38 5

T-6. Dyersville Beckman 7-1 26 6

T-6. Pleasantville 7-1 26 7

8. Underwood 6-2 20 8

9. West Marshall 6-2 12 9

10. Manson-NW Webster 6-2 5 10

Others receiving votes: Cascade 1.

CLASS A (Final) W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Saint Ansgar (4) 8-0 58 1

2. West Hancock (1) 8-0 48 2

3. Woodbury Central 8-0 47 3

4. Marcus MMCRU (1) 8-0 46 4

5. Guthrie Center ACGC 8-0 39 5

6. Wapsie Valley 8-0 31 7

7. Pekin 8-0 19 8

8. West Sioux 7-1 18 9

9. Lynnville-Sully 7-1 15 —

10. North Linn 7-1 6 6

Dropped out: Oakland Riverside (10).

Others receiving votes: Nashua-Plainfield 2, IKM-Manning 1.

8-PLAYER (Final) W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Algona Garrigan (5) 8-0 59 1

2. Woodbine (1) 7-0 54 2

3. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 8-0 48 3

4. Iowa Valley 8-0 41 4

5. Audubon 8-0 38 5

6. Edgewood-Colesburg 8-0 30 6

7. Ruthven GTRA 8-0 23 7

8. Don Bosco 5-2 14 8

9. Montezuma 6-2 10 9

10. Easton Valley 7-1 7 10

Others receiving votes: Bedford 3, Fremont-Mills 3.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com