Iowa high school football rankings: The Gazette’s 2024 post-Week 4 poll

After four weeks of chaos, stability might finally be coming to the top of The Gazette’s Class 5A football rankings.

West Des Moines Valley returns to the No. 1 slot, marking the fourth consecutive week that there has been a change at the top of the big-school class.

Valley received two first-place votes from The Gazette’s panel compared to West Des Moines Dowling’s four, but the Tigers edged the Maroons by a 56-55 margin in poll points.

The most recent changes came as a result of former No. 1 Ankeny Centennial’s loss to Southeast Polk, plus Valley’s victory over then-No. 2 Waukee.

So for those keeping track, Ankeny was the preseason 5A No. 1, followed by Valley after Week 1, Dowling after Week 2, Centennial after Week 3.

Valley and Dowling both are heavily favored to win this week, as are new No. 3 Bettendorf (the lone unbeaten in the top 10) and No. 4 Pleasant Valley. Fifth-ranked Waukee faces a home challenge in Johnston.

There’s a change at the top in Class A, as well, thanks to Le Mars Gehlen’s 22-21 upset of former No. 1 Woodbury Central.

Guthrie Center ACGC is the new top team in A, edging West Hancock in first-place votes (4-2) and poll points (58-56). The Chargers got past South Central Calhoun last week, 28-14.

West Hancock blasted North Union, 46-7, for its 15th consecutive win. The Eagles won the Class A state title last year.

Saint Ansgar, Madrid and Lisbon all moved up a notch and round out the top five; Woodbury Central slipped to No. 6, a spot ahead of Gehlen.

Reigning 4A champion Lewis Central remains a unanimous No. 1 in that class after beating Bondurant-Farrar, 24-14, for its 13th consecutive victory. Pella is up a spot to No. 2; the Dutch edged Cedar Rapids Xavier, 21-19.

North Polk, Gilbert and Indianola wrap up the 4A top five.

A 7-6 victory over archrival Mount Vernon allowed Solon to maintain the No. 1 spot in 3A. Algona climbs a spot to second, then it’s Williamsburg and Dubuque Wahlert at 3 and 4, with Mount Vernon and surging Sergeant Bluff-Luton tied for fifth.

There is no change among the 2A top five (West Lyon, Monroe PCM, Spirit Lake, Van Meter and Central Lyon/George-Little Rock) and little movement in 1A.

Grundy Center stretched its winning streak to 30, 42-6 over previously unbeaten East Marshall. The Spartans were Class A champions in 2022, 1A champs in 2023 and have outscored their first four foes, 146-27.

Wilton remains at No. 2; Dike-New Hartford leapfrogged Emmetsburg into the No. 3 spot, and South Hardin is No. 5.

Remsen St. Mary’s, Algona Garrigan, Audubon, Don Bosco and Lenox are the top five teams in 8-Player.

The Gazette’s post-Week 4 football poll

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. West Des Moines Valley (2) 3-1 56 3

2. West Des Moines Dowling (4) 3-1 55 4

3. Bettendorf 4-0 44 5

4. Pleasant Valley 3-1 39 8

5. Waukee 3-1 36 2

6. Ankeny Centennial 3-1 35 1

7. Southeast Polk 2-2 24 —

8. Iowa City Liberty 3-1 15 —

9. Linn-Mar 3-1 14 6

10. Cedar Falls 2-2 5 7

Dropped out: Ankeny (9), Cedar Rapids Prairie (10).

Others receiving votes: Sioux City East 4, Johnston 2, Cedar Rapids Prairie 1.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Lewis Central (6) 4-0 60 1

2. Pella 4-0 50 3

3. North Polk 4-0 48 4

4. Gilbert 4-0 36 5

5. Indianola 3-1 29 7

6. Decorah 4-0 28 6

7. Western Dubuque 3-1 27 8

8. North Scott 3-1 22 2

9. Adel ADM 3-1 19 8

10. Cedar Rapids Xavier 2-2 6 10

Others receiving votes: Newton 5.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Solon (5) 4-0 58 1

2. Algona (1) 4-0 50 3

3. Williamsburg 3-1 48 2

4. Dubuque Wahlert 4-0 37 7

T-5. Mount Vernon 3-1 36 3

T-5. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 4-0 36 9

7. Grinnell 4-0 21 10

8. Independence 3-1 18 6

9. Clear Lake 3-1 16 5

10. Humboldt 3-1 6 8

Dropped out: Harlan (10).

Others receiving votes: Nevada 2, Sioux City Heelan 1, West Delaware 1.

CLASS 2A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. West Lyon (4) 4-0 58 1

2. Monroe PCM (1) 4-0 53 2

3. Spirit Lake (1) 3-1 51 3

4. Van Meter 3-1 38 4

5. Central Lyon-GLR 3-1 35 5

6. Carroll Kuemper 3-1 32 6

7. Northeast 4-0 15 8

T-8. Anamosa 4-0 14 9

T-8. Western Christian 3-1 14 —

10. North Fayette Valley 3-1 10 —

Others receiving votes: Roland-Story 5, Cherokee 4, Des Moines Christian 1.

CLASS 1A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Grundy Center (5) 4-0 58 1

2. Wilton (1) 4-0 50 2

3. Dike-New Hartford 3-1 44 4

4. Emmetsburg 4-0 42 3

5. South Hardin 4-0 33 5

6. Iowa City Regina 4-0 31 7

7. Ida Grove OABCIG 3-1 29 8

8. Avoca AHSTW 3-1 25 9

9. Hudson 4-0 9 —

10. Ridge View 3-1 4 —

Dropped out: Hinton (5), Underwood (10).

Others receiving votes: Sigourney-Keota 3, MFL MarMac 2.

CLASS A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Guthrie Center ACGC (4) 4-0 58 2

2. West Hancock (2) 4-0 56 3

3. Saint Ansgar 3-1 38 4

4. Madrid 3-1 33 5

5. Lisbon 4-0 29 6

6. Woodbury Central 3-1 24 1

7. Le Mars Gehlen 3-1 22 —

T-8. Earlham 3-1 21 7

T-8. Tri-Center 3-1 21 8

10. North Linn 4-0 12 9

Dropped out: Nashua-Plainfield (10), Pekin (10).

Others receiving votes: Pekin 9, Nashua-Plainfield 6, Mount Ayr 1.

8-PLAYER W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Remsen St. Mary’s (4) 4-0 55 1

2. Algona Garrigan (2) 4-0 48 2

3. Audubon 4-0 44 3

4. Don Bosco 4-0 40 5

5. Lenox 4-0 39 3

6. Iowa Valley 5-0 27 6

7. Anita CAM 3-1 25 7

8. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3-1 20 8

9. Bedford 3-1 16 9

10. Woodbine 4-0 9 —

Dropped out: Lansing Kee (10).

Others receiving votes: Belle Plaine 4, Southeast Warren 2, Janesville 1.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com