Iowa high school football rankings: Southeast Valley is last 2A unbeaten

They are the last unbeaten in the class. They already have two wins against top-end opponents, with more opportunities to come.

Acquaint yourself to the Southeast Valley Jaguars.

A week after taking over the No. 1 slot in Class 2A, Southeast Valley strengthened its hold with a 24-14 victory over Estherville-Lincoln Central. The Jaguars’ last two games have been victories against Ida Grove OABCIG — now ranked No. 3 — and No. 6 ELC.

Southeast Valley is 5-0, the only 2A team to claim that unblemished mark. Life doesn’t get much easier for the Jaguars; their last three regular-season opponents are a combined 11-4, including Week 8 foe Spirit Lake, which is No. 5 this week.

Yeah, 2A District 2 is a beast.

All seven top-ranked teams held serve Friday, including 8-Player frontrunner Anita CAM, which topped then-No. 2 Audubon, 58-42.

Ankeny (5A), North Scott (4A), Harlan (3A), Van Meter (1A) and West Hancock (Class A) also are tops in their respective classes.

Ankeny and North Scott both are defending champions. Ankeny is 4-1, with three straight wins that followed a Week 2 loss to Ankeny Centennial.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Southeast Polk share the No. 2 spot, with West Des Moines Valley and Iowa City High completing the top five.

Kennedy, City High and No. 9 Linn-Mar are the only three unbeatens in 5A.

Expect major shuffling in 5A next week. Ankeny plays at Valley on Friday, Kennedy hosts No. 7 Cedar Falls, Southeast Polk welcomes Linn-Mar and No. 6 Urbandale is at No. 10 Ankeny Centennial.

North Scott maintains a slim 58-56 edge in poll points over Indianola in 4A. The Lancers drew four first-place votes, the Indians two.

Bondurant-Farrar and Cedar Rapids Xavier are tied for third; Lewis Central is fifth.

Harlan remains a unanimous No. 1 in 3A. No. 2 Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley received second-place points on five of six ballots. Humboldt is third with Solon and West Delaware tied for fourth.

Led by Southeast Valley, seven of the top 10 teams in 2A hail from northwest Iowa. West Marshall (No. 2) and Waukon (No. 4) are two exceptions. OABCIG is third, Spirit Lake fifth.

Van Meter continues as a unanimous top-rated pick in 1A. The Bulldogs are averaging 47.4 points per game (scoring in the 70s in their last two games) and allowing 2.6 per contest. Underwood is No. 2, followed by Iowa City Regina, Dike-New Hartford and Sigourney-Keota.

West Hancock grabbed five of six first-place votes in Class A; the Eagles have held all five of their opponents to one touchdown or less. Grundy Center is second, then it’s Woodbury Central at No. 3 and Lisbon and Logan-Magnolia tied for fourth.

CAM is followed in the 8-Player top five by Montezuma, Remsen St. Mary’s, Easton Valley and Audubon.

THE GAZETTE FOOTBALL POLL

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Ankeny (6) 4-1 60 1

T-2. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 5-0 45 2

T-2. Southeast Polk 4-1 45 3

4. West Des Moines Valley 4-1 43 4

5. Iowa City High 5-0 33 6

6. Urbandale 4-1 32 5

7. Cedar Falls 4-1 29 6

8. Cedar Rapids Prairie 4-1 21 8

9. Linn-Mar 5-0 13 9

10. Ankeny Centennial 3-2 6 10

Dropped out: West Des Moines Dowling (10).

Others receiving votes: West Des Moines Dowling 3.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts Pvs

1. North Scott (4) 5-0 58 1

2. Indianola (2) 5-0 56 2

T-3. Bondurant-Farrar 5-0 41 3

T-3. Cedar Rapids Xavier 4-1 41 4

5. Lewis Central 3-2 35 5

T-6. Waverly-Shell Rock 4-1 28 8

T-6. Winterset 4-1 28 6

8. Norwalk 4-1 21 10

9. Clear Creek Amana 4-1 8 —

10. Spencer 4-1 6 —

Dropped out: Fort Dodge (6), Newton (9).

Others receiving votes: Western Dubuque 4, Fort Madison 3, Pella 1.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Harlan (6) 5-0 60 1

2. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 5-0 53 2

3. Humboldt 5-0 41 5

T-4. West Delaware 4-1 40 3

T-4. Solon 5-0 40 4

6. Independence 5-0 33 6

7. Nevada 5-0 26 7

8. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 4-1 19 8

T-9. Adel ADM 4-1 5 —

T-9. Creston 4-1 5 —

T-9. Davenport Assumption 3-2 5 10

Dropped out: Mount Vernon (9).

Others receiving votes: Benton Community 2, Algona 1.

CLASS 2A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Southeast Valley (5) 5-0 59 1

2. West Marshall (1) 4-1 48 4

3. Ida Grove OABCIG 4-1 47 6

4. Waukon 4-1 40 5

5. Spirit Lake 4-1 34 2

6. Estherville ELC 3-2 27 3

7. West Lyon 3-2 23 8

8. Greene County 4-1 20 7

9. Central Lyon-GLR 2-3 12 9

10. Unity Christian 4-1 7 10

Others receiving votes: Pocahontas Area 5, Monticello 3, North Fayette Valley 3, Williamsburg 2.

CLASS 1A W-L Pts Pvs

1. Van Meter (6) 5-0 60 1

2. Underwood 5-0 54 2

3. Iowa City Regina 5-0 43 3

4. Dike-New Hartford 5-0 38 4

5. Sigourney-Keota 5-0 33 5

T-6. Dyersville Beckman 5-0 25 7

T-6. West Sioux 4-1 25 6

8. Guthrie Center ACGC 5-0 19 9

9. Waterloo Columbus 4-1 11 10

10. Pella Christian 4-1 7 7

Others receiving votes: Denver 5, Cardinal 3, West Branch 3, MFL MarMac 2, South Central Calhoun 2.

CLASS A W-L Pts Pvs

1. West Hancock (5) 5-0 59 1

2. Grundy Center (1) 4-1 53 2

3. Woodbury Central 5-0 45 3

T-4. Lisbon 4-1 35 4

T-4. Logan-Magnolia 4-1 35 5

6. North Linn 5-0 31 6

7. North Tama 5-0 22 8

8. Hartley HMS 4-1 18 9

9. North Butler 5-0 15 —

10. Earlham 4-1 12 —

Dropped out: Oakland Riverside (7), Mason City Newman (10).

Others receiving votes: Mason City Newman 2, Oakland Riverside 2, South O’Brien 1.

8-PLAYER W-L Pts Pvs

1. Anita CAM (4) 5-0 58 1

2. Montezuma (1) 6-0 49 3

3. Remsen St. Mary’s 5-0 47 5

4. Easton Valley (1) 5-0 42 4

5. Audubon 4-1 35 2

6. Newell-Fonda 5-0 31 6

7. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 5-0 20 8

8. Turkey Valley 5-0 18 9

9. Lenox 5-0 12 —

10. WACO 6-0 11 10

Dropped out: Janesville (7).

Others receiving votes: Lansing Kee 4, Ruthven GTRA 2, Janesville 1.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com