Iowa high school football preview: 2021 rankings, predictions and more

The end of summer means sadness for some. For high school football fans (and media members), it’s the opposite.

It’s already Week 1 of a new season. To get ready, explore The Gazette’s preview content below.

Be sure to stop by Friday night as well. We’ll have a live scoreboard, coverage of multiple area games, photos and more. This season we’ve also added two new podcasts/video shows a week (including a reaction show late Friday night) and three new newsletters a week to our extensive digital coverage. Thanks for reading, listening and watching.

» Get the newsletter: Sign up for the Iowa Prep Sports newsletter

» Week 1 matchups: Who the ranked teams face

Iowa high school football rankings

The Gazette and KGYM’s preseason polls in all seven classes were released over the last week.

» 8-Player: Anita CAM is No. 1 despite no first-place votes

» Class A: Last year’s runner-up, Grundy Center has the inside track this season

» Class 1A: With 4 first-team all-staters back, Van Meter is the favorite

» Class 2A: Central Lyon/George-Little Rock is a unanimous No. 1

» Class 3A: Harlan brings back 6 all-staters and is a unanimous No. 1

» Class 4A: Lewis Central begins on top in an interesting class

» Class 5A: Southeast Polk starts No. 1 as Central Iowa is the center of attention again

Gazette area district picks

The Gazette’s Jeff Linder went through every district with an area team (Class 5A does not have districts) and projected the order of finish, with analysis for some of the top races.

» 8-Player | Class A | Class 1A | Class 2A | Class 3A | Class 4A

Team features

Our reporters highlighted a few teams in the Gazette area to keep an eye on this fall and brought you those stories already this week.

» 8-Player No. 3 Montezuma looks to continue last year’s success

» A No. 4 Lisbon set to break in new field with highly-ranked team

» ‘The McDouble’ is back and 1A No. 6 MFL MarMac is lovin’ it

» 3A No. 5 Independence is in position to erupt offensively

» 4A No. 4 Cedar Rapids Washington returns experienced team for upcoming season

» Could 5A No. 7 Cedar Rapids Prairie soar through the air this season?

Follow us

Have questions about how this season will work? Consult Jeff Johnson’s guide to the 2021 season.

Be sure to keep up with our Iowa Prep Sports channels on social media — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — and join the conversation.

Subscribe to the Iowa Prep Sports newsletter. You’ll get the new rankings on Mondays, weekly previews on Thursdays and all the scores and reaction on Fridays.

Subscribe to the Iowa Prep Sports podcasts. We’ll have one episode during the week that looks at the updated rankings and previews the upcoming games, then another released late Friday night with scores, analysis and reporting from the stadiums. The shows will also be available in video form on our social pages and The Gazette’s YouTube channel.

Comments: nathan.ford@thegazette.com